Abstract Objective: The aim of the current study is to compare Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition, version II (SCREEN II) and Mini Nutritional Assessment – Short Form (MNA-SF), where each is used to identify nutritional risk prevalence among community-dwelling people aged 65 years and above in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Design: A cross-sectional study. Nutritional risk assessed using the nutritionist’s risk rating, anthropometric measurements, functional indicators, cognitive parameters, SCREEN II and MNA-SF. Setting: The municipalities of Foca, East Sarajevo and Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Participants: Eight hundred twenty-one community-dwelling individuals aged ≥65 years. Results: The prevalence of high nutritional risk per nutritionist’s risk rating, SCREEN II and MNA-SF was 26, 60, and 7 %, respectively. With the nutritionist’s rating score ≥5 as the criterion, the MNA-SF cut-off point of ≤11 (indicating any possible risk) had poor sensitivity (55·7 %), specificity (46·6 %) and AUC (0·563; P = 0·024). When the criterion of >7 was applied, good sensitivity (95·3 %) and specificity (88·9 %) were obtained for the MNA-SF cut-off score of ≤7. AUC for this comparison was 0·742 (considered fair). Cut-off points of <54 (AUC = 0·816) and <50 (AUC = 0·881) for SCREEN II (indicating moderate to high risk) corresponded with good sensitivity (82·2 %; 80·9 %) and fair specificity (72·1 %; 75·0 %). Conclusion: MNA-SF may have a limited role in nutritional risk screening among community-dwelling seniors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. SCREEN II has promising results in regard to validity, but further studies are warranted.

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory, (auto) immune disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Cognitive disorders are found in over 50% of patients. Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the distribution of cognitive disorders in people with MS. Methods: The prospective study included 135 respondents with MS and 50 healthy respondents. The respondents were divided into three groups: the first group consisted of 85 respondents where the disease lasted longer than one year, the second group consisted of 50 respondents with newly diagnosed MS, the third group consisted of 50 healthy respondents. Clinical assessment instruments were: Extended Disability Score in Multiple Sclerosis Patients, Mini Mental Status, Battery of Tests to Assess Cognitive Functions: Wechsler Intelligence Scale, Revised Beta Test, Raven Colored Progressive Matrices, Wechsler Memory Scale, Rey Audio Verbal Learning Test -Osterriecht’s complex character test, verbal fluency test. Results: Cognitive disorders were present in 40-60% of respondents with MS. Visuospatial, visuoconstructive and visuoperceptive functions are worse in the first group. Mnestic functions (learning process, short-term and long-term memory, recollection, verbal-logical memory) were most affected in both groups of respondents, ranging from 30-60%. Poorer cognitive domains are in the first groups of respondents. Immediate working process memory (current learning), memory, attention, short-term and logical memory is worse in the examinees of the first group. At the beginning of the disease, 16% had verbal fluency difficulties, and as the disease progresses, the difficulties become more pronounced. Conclusion: Cognitive disorders are heterogeneous, they can be noticed in the early stages of the disease. They refer to impairments of working memory, executive functions and attention, while global intellectual efficiency is later reduced.

Introduction: High educational and teaching standards were the main reason why from the begging student satisfaction surveys and assessments of the students’ knowledge, attitudes and opinions were paramount in the educational process at the Cathedra for Medical Informatics at the Medical Faculty University of Sarajevo. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate general knowledge of the fourth semester students about informatics and medical informatics and compare it with previous generations. Methods: Students at the beginning of the fourth semester and before second planned lectures receive “Questionnaire for biomedical students about use and knowledge of information technologies”. Collected data was retrospectively used for this study. The scientific study committee of the Cathedra for Medical Informatics reviewed and approved the database for using this study. At the beginning of the survey, all students were informed that their data could be tracked. Also, all students were informed and got lectures on surveys, development and use of questionnaires for the examination of the patient/student satisfactions and how results of the survey and analysis could help continuously improving quality of the teaching process. Discussion and Conclusion: Medical students come to the faculty with significant IT knowledge and skills. It can even be argued that students rank their knowledge in some way lower than we as teachers estimate based on their practical work. They organize groups on social networks where they exchange information about lectures and exams. It is common for each study year to have its own group. Through this group, information and presentations that teachers send to students are exchanged. One of the goals of teaching medical informatics is the method of searching for medical information on the Internet. The skills learned in medical informatics classes complement those learned earlier and provide a solid base for physicians who are able to supplement their knowledge using IT technologies when they need it.

Parental and familial factors influence numerous aspects of adolescents’ lives, including their physical activity level (PAL). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the changes in PAL which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to evaluate influence of sociodemographic and parental/familial factors on PAL levels before and during pandemic in adolescents from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The sample included 688 adolescents (15–18 years of age; 322 females) who were tested on two occasions: in January 2020 (baseline; before the COVID-19 pandemic) and in April 2020 (follow-up; during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown). Variables included PAL (measured by the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents–PAQ-A) as well as sociodemographic-, parental-, and familial factors. A significant decline in PALs was recorded between baseline and follow-up (t-test: 11.88, p < 0.001). Approximately 50% of adolescents underwent sufficient PAL at baseline, while only 24% of them were achieving sufficient PAL at the time of follow-up measurement. Paternal education was positively correlated (OR (95%CI): baseline: 6.63 (4.58–9.96), follow-up: 3.33 (1.19–7.01)), while familial conflict was negatively correlated (baseline: 0.72 (0.57–0.90), follow-up: 0.77 (0.60–0.99)) with PALs before and during the pandemic. This study highlights the importance of the parent–child relationship and parental/familiar support in promoting physical activity both during regular life and during crises and health challenging situations like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, inflammatory, systemic rheumatic disease, very complex, with many different forms, progressive course, with pronounced changes in the joints, still unknown etiology and poorly understood pathology. Assessing of structural change can be done with proposed scores which observe changes on wrist and wrist joints, as a Sharp score. Aim: To examine the correlation between Anti-Citrullinated Protein Antibodies (Anti-CCP) values and Sharp score, and to determine the importance of Sharp score in the progression of RA. Methods: The study had prospective character and followed patients in the period from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. The study included 40 patients with RA. At the beginning of the follow-up of patients, X-ray of hands and feet were performed. Results: Out of total of 40 patients, 34 or 85% had a follow-up examination after one year. Of these, 14 patients (41.2%) were reported to have complications. The subjects were divided into two groups according to Anti-CCP values. First group included patients with Anti-CCP values <4 and second those who had Anti-CCP> 4. Statistical analysis of the number of patients with complications at first and repeated examination indicated that there were no significant differences and that the sample was consistent between the first and repeated results (p> 0.05). Patients with higher Anti-CCP values also had a higher Sharp score with statistically significant differences during repeated examination (p <0.05). Correlation analysis shows that there was statistically significant (p <0.05) positive correlation with Anti-CCP values, and that an increase in values leads to an increase in the Sharp score (first measurement rho = 0.193, p> 0.05; repeated measurement rho = 0.645, p <0.0001). No statistically significant differences in Sharp score values at the first examination were compared with the repeated examination, but there was a statistically significant difference after one year in patients with complications (X2 = 13,388; p = 0.001), indicating that the Sharp score reflects disease progression. Conclusion: Anti-CCP values are also directly correlated with the Sharp score, which should be routine in both initial and repeated examination of a patient with RA. Sharp’s score represents a marker of progression as well as of therapeutic modality of RA.

: Culture is shared assumptions, beliefs, attitudes, or beliefs that helps individuals or groups to respond various actions or events that they face in daily life. Besides, leadership is art of influencing others to achieve desired objectives in organizations. On one hand, the growing body of the literature argues the effectiveness of the transformational leadership. On the other hand, cultural background has different impacts on this leadership style. In this respect, current paper aims to point out some consequences of transformational leadership in various cultures. As a result, it has been observed that because of its charismatic and simulative characteristics, these leaders are more effective on developed countries and innovative characteristics rather than group oriented and depressed cultures.

In October 2019 the WHO Regional Office for Europe hosted a meeting of experts from across Europe, representing a range of sectors including academia, government, NGOs, procurement and professional cooking. The aim of the meeting was to highlight and prioritise key issues and discuss the actions needed to address these, the resources needed and the stakeholder engagement necessary to drive change. One key outcome is the development of a data platform for healthy and sustainable diets. This tool will enable countries to use their own data to adapt their own diets on a national and subnational level to the evidence-based global reference diet developed by recent scientific publications. Training materials will be developed alongside the data platform to enable key stakeholders and decision makers to build capacity in their own countries. The platform will empower policymakers within countries to develop and introduce national level initiatives to improve diets in terms of health and sustainability.

SUMMARY Astrocytoma is the second most common intramedullary tumor of predominantly low-grade malignancy in adult patients. Adult astrocytomas have better-quality prognosis compared with astrocytomas in children. Although a standardized surgical management protocol for spinal cord glioma is currently unavailable, surgery of low-grade astrocytoma should be aimed at gross total resection to preserve neurological function and to improve the outcome. Herein, we present a personal case series of four consecutive adult spinal cord astrocytoma patients who were operated on during the last few years. Tumor resection was performed in all patients utilizing microsurgical technique and intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring. We also provide a literature review of the treatment of intramedullary astrocytoma in adults and discuss contemporary surgical management and prognosis.

Introduction: Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) is named as a gold standard for intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement. Aim: To assess the accuracy of intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements using rebound tonometry over hydrogel and silicone hydrogel contact lenses (CLs) of different powers. Methods: This study included 117 eyes of 61 patients (12 male, 49 female), all habitual wearers of hydrogel and silicone hydrogel CLs, and none previously diagnosed with glaucoma, ocular hypertension or anterior surface disease. Five IOP measurements were taken over each eye using a rebound tonometer (Icare): with soft CLs in situ and then repeated without CLs. Lens power ranged from -9.50 to +10.00 spherical diopters and to a maximum of -0.75 cylinder diopters. Results: A significant positive correlation was found between IOP measurements with and without CLs. The difference between IOP measurements with (mean 20.74±5.19 mmHg) and without (mean 18.79±4.36 mmHg) CLs was found to be 1.95 mmHg (P <0.01). Statistical analysis was performed using the paired t-test and a correlation coefficient was calculated (r = 0.59; P <0.001). We have observed that increase in central corneal thickness (CCT) correlates positively with increase of measurement error of rebound tonometry (r = 0.43; P <0.001). Conclusion: We have shown good reliability of IOP measurements over CLs of different materials and thickness profiles while using rebound tonometer which makes it a feasible and accurate method for clinical purposes.

Globalization has increased the number of road trips and vehicles. The result has been an intensification of traffic accidents, which are becoming one of the most important causes of death worldwide. Traffic accidents are often due to human error, the probability of which increases when the cognitive ability of the driver decreases. Cognitive capacity is closely related to the driver’s mental state, as well as other external factors such as the CO2 concentration inside the vehicle. The objective of this work is to analyze how these elements affect driving. We have conducted an experiment with 50 drivers who have driven for 25 min using a driving simulator. These drivers completed a survey at the start and end of the experiment to obtain information about their mental state. In addition, during the test, their stress level was monitored using biometric sensors and the state of the environment (temperature, humidity and CO2 level) was recorded. The results of the experiment show that the initial level of stress and tiredness of the driver can have a strong impact on stress, driving behavior and fatigue produced by the driving test. Other elements such as sadness and the conditions of the interior of the vehicle also cause impaired driving and affect compliance with traffic regulations.

U radu su korišteni podaci izmjere 377 modelnih stabala smreke koja su mjerena u oborenom stanju na širem području unutar državnih raznodobnih sastojina u Kantonu 10 (Hercegbosanski Kanton). Za određivanje volumena krupnog drveta stabala primijenjena je metoda sekcioniranja sa sekcijama nejednakih apsolutnih dužina (najčešće od 1 – 2 m). Za izravnanje veličina volumena krupnog drveta od prsnog promjera i visine stabala primijenjena je metoda višestruke regresijske analize. Za procjenu parametara korištenih funkcija, testiranje značajnosti njihovih razlika te provođenje raznih transformacija, kao softversko rješenje korišteni su StatGraphics Centurion XVII. i Statistica 8.0. U cilju izbora „najboljeg“ modela za procjenu volumena krupnog drveta testiran je veći broj poznatih dendrometrijskih dvoparametarskih volumnih funkcija. Kvaliteta izjednačenja i prikladnost testiranih modela ocjenjivani su na bazi utvrđenih veličina osnovnih statističkih pokazatelja za karakteriziranje jačine korelacijskih veza. Najbolje ocjene parametara pokazao je model V7=a0+a1d1,3+a2h+a3d1,3h+a4d1,32+a5 d1,32h uz utvrđeni koeficijent determinacije: R2 = 0,99 i veličinu standardne greške regresije Sey=0,24 m3. Testirajući značajnost razlika između stvarnih volumena stabala iz uzorka i volumena tih istih stabala utvrđenih primjenom odabranog regresijskog modela, utvrđen je prosječni postotak odstupanja od 0,44%. To znači da su u prosjeku za 0,44% niži volumeni u odnosu na stvarne volumene na uzorku od 377 stabala smreke, što ukazuje da je ovaj regresijski model upotrebljiv za primjenu u praktičnom radu, jer je taj prosječni postotak manji od 1%.

The study of crystalluria is of great importance for the detection of substances of endogenous or exogenous origin that are present inthe urine, to a greater or lesser extent. Urinary sediment crystals can provide valuable answers for the assessment of therapeutic efficacy, as well as congenital and/or acquired pathophysiological conditions. The nature of the observed crystals informs the clinician of the biochemical irregularity of the urine. Crystalluria is of clinical significance only if it has been studied under good test conditions (sample selection, time and storage conditions). Crystalluria interpretations are performed on the basis of the urinary pH determined with statistically significant reliability. When studying crystalluria by light microscopy, it is necessary to provide light polarization or bidirectional illuminationin order to reduce the risk of diagnostic error.