Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is considered as the strongest independent risk factor for lung cancer (LC) development, suggesting an overlapping genetic background in both diseases. A common feature of both diseases is aberrant immunity in respiratory epithelia that is mainly regulated by Toll-like receptors (TLRs), key regulators of innate immunity. The function of the flagellin-sensing TLR5 in airway epithelia and pathophysiology of COPD and LC has remained elusive. We performed case–control genetic association and functional studies on the importance of TLR5 in COPD and LC development, comparing Caucasian COPD/LC patients (n = 974) and healthy donors (n = 1283). Association analysis of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs725084, rs2072493_N592S, and rs5744174_F616L) indicated the minor allele of rs2072493_N592S to be associated with increased risk for COPD (OR = 4.41, p < 0.0001) and NSCLC (OR = 5.17, p < 0.0001) development and non-small cell LC risk in the presence of COPD (OR = 1.75, p = 0.0031). The presence of minor alleles (rs5744174 and rs725084) in a co-dominant model was associated with overall survival in squamous cell LC patients. Functional analysis indicated that overexpression of the rs2072493_N592S allele affected the activation of NF-κB and AP-1, which could be attributed to impaired phosphorylation of p38 and ERK. Overexpression of TLR5N592S was associated with increased chemosensitivity in the H1299 cell line. Finally, genome-wide transcriptomic analysis on WI-38 and H1299 cells overexpressing TLR5WT or TLR5N592S, respectively, indicated the existence of different transcription profiles affecting several cellular pathways potentially associated with a dysregulated immune response. Our results suggest that TLR5 could be recognized as a potential biomarker for COPD and LC development with functional relevance.

There are still not enough findings to elucidate how exactly alcohol use impairs cognitive abilities. Some studies have shown that there is a link between alcohol intake and vitamin D levels, but these findings are inconsistent so further research is needed. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between serum vitamin D levels and cognitive impairment in alcohol-dependent individuals. A case-control study was carried out including a total of N = 132 respondents with a medical history of alcoholism, and healthy volunteers. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCa) and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) screening tools were used for cognitive status assessment and serum vitamin D levels analysis (blood samples of respondents). Significant difference (p = 0.022), was found in vitamin D levels in the alcohol-dependent group with cognitive deficiency 13.7 ± 9.4 (ng/mL), alcohol-dependent group without cognitive deficiency 19.5 ± 11.2 (ng/mL) and healthy controls 19.9 ± 11.1 (ng/mL), respectively. Furthermore, vitamin D levels were significantly different across all groups based on MoCa (p = 0.016) and ACE-R (p = 0.004) scores. All three groups exhibited vitamin D deficiency. A significant correlation was found between vitamin D deficiency and cognitive impairment, but it yielded no significant difference in alcohol-dependent individuals.

Background: Carbohydrates are mainly substrates for energy metabolism and can affect satiety, blood glucose levels, insulin secretion, and fat metabolism. Their amount and type in the diet affect metabolic responses. High-carbohydrate diets, particularly high sugar consumption, are considered particularly harmful because of their specific characteristics related to postprandial metabolism, effects on hunger and satiety, and thus on caloric intake and energy balance. The European Food Safety Authority has suggested that the reference intake for carbohydrates should be between 45 and 60% of total energy requirements and less than 10% should be added sugars, especially for children. Objective: Investigate the proportion and type of carbohydrates in the diets of children in early adolescence in two territorially distinct areas, the continental and the Mediterranean. Methods: The study was conducted as part of a longitudinal cohort study. The survey was conducted in elementary schools in two regions: continental and Mediterranean. The School Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey was used for research purposes. Descriptive and inferential statistical tests were applied for data analysis. Results: A total of 1,411 respondents of both sexes aged 12-15 years, 729 boys and 678 girls, participated in the study. The intake of carbohydrates in the total sample is represented in the daily intake of 59%. The proportion of natural sugar in the diet of boys is statistically significantly higher in the continental compared to the Mediterranean region at the age of 12-13 years (p = 0.002), 13-14 years (p = 0.049), and 14-15 years (p = 0.002). Added sugars in total carbohydrate intake are statistically significantly higher in girls in the Mediterranean region compared to the continental region at ages 12-13 years (p = 0.048), 13-14 years (p = 0.001), and 14-15 years (p = 0.001). Conclusion: The high intake of added sugars in children in the Mediterranean region is of concern, although the intake in the continental area is well above current recommendations. Therefore, one of the public health goals is to promote proper nutrition as well as the availability of healthy foods in schools, especially during early adolescence when proper eating habits are adopted.

Quantum many-core processors are envisioned as the ultimate solution for the scalability of quantum computers. Based upon Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) chips interconnected in a sort of quantum intranet, they enable large algorithms to be executed on current and close future technology. In order to optimize such architectures, it is crucial to develop tools that allow specific design space explorations. To this aim, in this paper we present a technique to perform a spatio-temporal characterization of quantum circuits running in multi-chip quantum computers. Specifically, we focus on the analysis of the qubit traffic resulting from operations that involve qubits residing in different cores, and hence quantum communication across chips, while also giving importance to the amount of intra-core operations that occur in between those communications. Using specific multi-core performance metrics and a complete set of benchmarks, our analysis showcases the opportunities that the proposed approach may provide to guide the design of multi-core quantum computers and their interconnects.

The designing process of an IoT (Internet of Things) network requires adequate knowledge of various communication technologies that make the connection of the IoT modules possible. Many important factors such as scalability, bandwidth, data rate (speed), coverage, power consumption, and security support need to be considered to answer the needs of an IoT application with regards to the implemented radio communication technology. This paper studies the choices of three major LPWAN (Low-Power Wide-Area Networks) technologies that are currently leading in the market of radio communication technologies. Focusing on Sigfox, LoRaWAN (Low-Range Wide-Area Networks), and NB-IoT (Narrow-Band Internet of Things), this work intends to give the respective pros and cons of the mentioned technologies and a clear view of the recent trends and effective choices of radio communication technologies for major smart IoT applications.

Introduction: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) imply damage to muscular or skeletal systems, which usually develop due to strenuous, repetitive activity, or an inflammation process. The therapy with capacitive and resistive electronic transfer (CRet) and high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) have mainly been applied for pain relief in these conditions. This paper aims to provide an overview of the efficient results of CRet therapy and HILT in managing pain associated with musculoskeletal disorders found in the available literature. Methods: Articles related to musculoskeletal disorders were searched through electronic databases, such as PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Lilacs, Cochrane, Research Gate, and available website search tools. After excluding records that are not clinical trials and studies (such as review articles, patient information, and Ph.D. papers) and articles which did not deal with pain in musculoskeletal disorders, 61 articles met our criteria and were included in the overview. Results: By reviewing the selected articles related to CRet therapy and HILT effects on pain in musculoskeletal disorders, it was found that both therapies have a favorable effect on pain reduction. Conclusion: The selected papers showed that both therapies are powerful tools for pain reduction. Although there are no specific protocols, including the number and frequency of therapies applied and other parameters, in both therapy modalities, pain alleviation occurs during or immediately after a therapy cycle application.

Introduction: Bilateral ectopic pregnancy is a very rare condition which occurs in 1/725 - 1/1580 ectopic pregnancies, most commonly after induced assisted reproductive techniques. Aim: To present the case of spontaneous bilateral tubal pregnancy, and the problem of insufficiency of available diagnostic methods, which causes that an accurate diagnosis can mostly be made intraoperatively. Case Report: A 37-year-old female, nulliparous, comes at the Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics of CCUS, complains of intense suprapubic pain, and difficulty urinating. The expected menstruation was absent for more than 2 weeks. The Grav index test was positive. Beta hCG values were 6312 IU/L. On examination, the patient was extremely pale, hypotensive, gave the impression of hemorrhagic shock, and the abdomen was diffusely palpably painful. After emergency TV ultrasound, then ultrasound and CT of the abdomen and small pelvis, which indicate a moderate amount of thicker fluid in the abdomen and small pelvis in terms of hemoperitoneum and with the left contour of the uterus an oval zone most likely to correspond to ectopic pregnancy, an indication for emergency surgery was made. A laparotomy was performed, and partly liquid and partly coagulated blood was found in the abdomen. The left tube in the isthmic part was ruptured with active bleeding. Right Fallopian tube was pathologically changed, livid, with visible suspicious pregnancy in the ampullary part. Bilateral salpingectomy was performed, and samples are sent for PHD analysis that shows the presence of chorionic villi in both tubes. Conclusion: When ectopic pregnancy is suspected, the possibility of bilateral tubal pregnancy should always be kept in mind, especially in cases accompanied by acute pelvic pain with signs of hemorrhagic shock

Thoroughly validated instruments can provide a more accurate and reliable picture of how the instrument works and of the level of health literacy in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The present work aimed at cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Functional, Communicative and Critical Health Literacy Instrument (FCCHL) in patients with T2DM in Serbia. After translation and back-translation, views from an expert group, one cognitive interview study (n = 10) and one survey study (n = 130) were conducted among samples of diabetic patients. Item analysis, internal consistency, content validity, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and reliability testing were performed. When all 14 items were analyzed, loading factors were above 0.55, but without adequate model fit. After removing two items with the lowest loadings FHL1 and IHL2 the fit indexes indicated a reasonable normed χ2 (SB scaled χ2/df = 1.90). CFI was 0.916 with SRMR = 0.0676 and RMSEA = 0.0831. To determine internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.796 for the whole FCCHL-SR12. With only minor modifications compared to the English version, the 12-item FCCHL instrument is valid and reliable and can be used to measure health literacy among Serbian diabetic patients. However, future research on a larger population in Serbia is necessary for measuring the levels of HL and their relationship with other determinants in this country.

Due to their remarkable magnetic properties, such as a high maximum energy product, high remanence, and high coercivity, NdFeB magnets are used in a variety of technological applications. Because of their very limited recycling, high numbers of spent NdFeB magnets are widely available in the market. In addition to China’s monopoly on the supply of most rare earth elements, there is a need for the recovery of these critical metals, as their high import price poses an economic and environmental challenge for manufacturers. This paper proposes a pyrometallurgical recycling method for end-of-life NdFeB magnets by oxidizing them in air as first required step. The main goal of this method is to oxidize rare earth elements from NdFeB magnets in order to prepare them for the carbothermic reduction. The experimental conditions, such as the oxidation temperature and time, were studied in order to establish the phase transformation during oxidation using the Factsage Database and experimental conditions. Our thermogravimetric analysis TGA analysis revealed an increased sample mass by 35% between room temperature and 1100 °C, which is very close to the total calculated theoretical value of oxygen (36.8% for all elements, and only 3.6% for rare earth elements REE), confirming the complete oxidation of the material. The obtained quantitative analysis of the oxidation product, in (%), demonstrated values of 53.41 Fe2O3, 10.37 Fe3O4; 16.45 NdFeO3; 0.45 Nd2O3, 1.28 Dy2O3, 1.07 Pr2O3, and 5.22 α-Fe.

In this article we consider the applicability of distance education on the elementary level from parents’ perspectives and present the limitations stemming from the degree of support that students in elementary education need from their parents. The dilemmas regarding the possible levels of students’ development of independence and self-orientation, and the parents’ roles are highlighted. We believe that due to these limitations, distance learning has some of the characteristics of home-schooling. The subject of the research in the empirical part of this study focused on parents’ attitudes. Parental attitudes, based on a previously established multi-factor model, become clear from the parents’ experiences (Kolak, Markić & Horvat, 2020) where factors regarding the demands of teaching and the competence of parents as substitute teachers, were separated. Parents’ characteristics (e.g., gender, age, educational status and involvement) were found to influence their attitudes. The results of the research indicate the importance of parents in distance learning during the pandemic which adds a new and more significant role in the educational process of their children.

Pluralistička filozofija religije Abdolkarima Sorousha, čija neoracionalistička misao predstavlja stvarni epistemološki obrat unutar muslimanskog reformskog diskursa, središnje je pitanje kojim se bavi ovaj rad. Abdolkarim Soroush, kao suvremeni muslimanski mislilac, donosi sasvim novo razumijevanje pitanja religijskog pluralizma te uz uključenje analitičke filozofije, suvremene hermeneutičke tradicije i sufijske metafizike, doprinosi stvaranju upečatljivo karakteristične filozofije religije unutar muslimanskog intelektualnog kruga. Pitanja širenja i sužavanja religijskog znanja, kao i širenja poslaničkog iskustva, neodvojivi su elementi njegove filozofije religije.

Positive practice environments (PPEs) support the recruitment and retention of employees, enable the delivery of high-quality work outcomes, and benefit society as a whole. It is necessary to provide equal rights, obligations, equal treatment, and opportunities for all genders according to their needs to achieve gender equity and PPEs in workplaces. FIP developed the FIPWiSE (the FIP women in science and education initiative) toolkit for positive practice environments for women in science and education to support and enable them by building on the World Health Professional Alliances (WHPA) PPE campaign. FIP is a founding member of the WHPA and used the toolkit as a basis to describe and identify factors that enable PPEs from a pharmaceutical science and pharmacy education perspective. The toolkit provides a set of possible solutions related to women in science and education for individuals, employers, institutions, and policymakers, as well as real-life examples, perspectives, and good practice implementations and suggestions from women from all around the world.

Globalization in the field of industry is fostering the need for cognitive production systems. To implement modern concepts that enable tools and systems for such a cognitive production system, several challenges on the shop floor level must first be resolved. This paper discusses the implementation of selected cognitive technologies on a real industrial case-study of a construction machine manufacturer. The partner company works on the concept of mass customization but utilizes manual labour for the high-variety assembly stations or lines. Sensing and guidance devices are used to provide information to the worker and also retrieve and monitor the working, with respecting data privacy policies. Next, a specified process of data contextualization, visual analytics, and causal discovery is used to extract useful information from the retrieved data via sensors. Communications and safety systems are explained further to complete the loop of implementation of cognitive entities on a manual assembly line. This deepened involvement of cognitive technologies are human-centered, rather than automated systems. The explained cognitive technologies enhance human interaction with the processes and ease the production methods. These concepts form a quintessential vision for an effective assembly line. This paper revolutionizes the existing industry 4.0 with an even-intensified human–machine interaction and moving towards cognitivity.

Milk is a product of the mammary gland obtained by proper and regular milking of healthy, properly fed cows, sheep, goats, without adding or taking anything away.This paper describes modern methods used for milk analysis and their working principle. 30 samples of raw milk were collectedas follows: 10 samples of cow, 10 samples of goat and 10 samples of sheep raw milk.The obtained results of raw milk quality parameters were processed, analyzed and compared with the maximum permissible concentrations prescribed by the Ordinance on raw milk.The work was written by the method of prospective study (experimental research). Milk testing was conducted during the period from 1 March 2020 to May 1, 2020.Samples were collected from primary producers of raw milk from the territory of Canton 10 in the manner prescribed by the Regulation on the method of sampling milk. They were transported and analysed in the Laboratory for Quality and Microbiology of Raw Milk - Department of Food and Veterinary Medicine of Canton 10.During this period, tests of raw milk were performed on the MilkoScan 7 device , a milk analyzer that works on the principle of close infrared spectroscopy with Fourier transform.