Cystic echinococcosis (CE), which is caused by E. granulosus, is a zoonotic disease present in almost every continent and endemic for the Mediterranean. The disease is principally presented with the involvement of a single organ and mainly with solitary cyst but in the smaller number of patients it can be a case of disseminated disease affect-ing multiple organs. In this report we present a young woman with disseminated echinococcosis with multiple hydatid cysts verified in liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys and pericard. Due to the specific form of disease, patient`s age and common relapses after the end of therapy, the patient was treated with albendazole for a prolonged period of time. We would like to present a somewhat different approach to the treatment of echinococcosis which resulted in regression and better control of the disease.

Introduction: Changes in the skin can occur as part of a diabetic, metabolic disorder or diabetic complications. Studies have shown that diabetes has an extremely strong negative impact on quality of life, especially diabetes with complications. Aim: Examine the impact of skin changes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus on quality of life. Methods: A prospective study analysed the quality of life in 200 respondents with type 2 diabetes mellitus which had diabetes-related skin changes. Subjects were divided into four groups according to the type of skin changes associated with diabetes mellitus. Group 1 consisted of patients which had skin changes with a greater or lesser association with diabetes mellitus, group 2 patients with infections, group 3 patients with cutaneous manifestations of diabetic complications and group 4 patients with allergic reactions to antidiabetic therapy. Quality of life assessment was performed using the Skindex-29 questionnaire, and the Nijsten categorization was used to assess the impact of skin changes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus on quality of life. Results: There were (51.95%) respondents in group 1, group 2 (24.02%), group 3 (22.22%) and group 4 (1.8%) respondents. In the scale of emotions in 84 respondents (43.0%) the impact on quality of life was serious, in the scale of symptoms in 96 (48%) was moderate, and in the scale of social and physical functioning 106 (55%) also had a moderate impact on quality of life, as well as in the total score of 94 respondents (47%). There was a statistically significant difference in the scale of social and physical functioning in the presence of skin changes in group 1 (x2 = 7.95; df = 3, p = 0.045) and group 3 (x2 = 12.48, df = 3; p = 0.006), and in the total score of Skindex-29 when it comes to changes in the skin of group 3 (x2 = 7.26, df = 3, p = 0.05). Conclusion: the quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus which have skin changes is significantly reduced.

Background: Diabetes is a metabolic disease that is taking an epidemic proportion around the world. The occurrence of microvascular complications and diabetic foot ulcer is associated with an increased mortality and morbidity incidence, which is the most serious complication of this disease, which significantly reduce the quality of patient life. Objective. The aim of the study was to determine the correlation of extracutaneous microvascular complications with diabetic foot ulcer in patients with type 2 diabetes. Method. The study was prospective, and included 160 patients with type 2 diabetes. It was conducted at the University Clinical Center of the Republic of Srpska in the period from January 2016 until December 2019. The respondents were adults, of both sexes, suffering from type 2 diabetes, in whom complications of this disease are present. Glycemic control was established based on a target HbA1c value of 7%. Results. Of the 160 patients in the study, 53.8% were men and 46.2% were women. The average age of the patients was 70.11%±10.05 years. Extracutaneous microvascular complications were present in 85 patients (53.1%); of which 30.2% had well-regulated glycemia (HbA1c≤7.0%), while 61.5% (p<0.001) had unregulated glycemia (HbA1c≥7.0). Polyneuropathy was present in 23.3% of patients with HbA1c≤7.0%, while 41.0% of patients had HbA1c≥7.0% (p<0.043). Nephropathy with HbA1c≤7.0% was present in 36.8% of cases compared to patients with HbA1c≥7.0 in whom the prevalence was 36.8% (p<0.004). Out of total, 25.6% had retinopathy with HbA1c≤7.0%, while in 41.9% of patients with HbA1c≥7.0% (p <0.067). Diabetic ulcer foot was present in 13 patients with HbA1c≥7 (11.1%) compared to patients with HbA1c≤7.0% where there was no occurrence of this complication 0.0% (p<0.021). At the same time, 5.6% of patients had a diabetic foot ulcer with polyneuropathy (p=0.010), 4.4% had neuropathy (p=0.058) and 5.6% had retinopathy (p=0.014). Conclusion: The high incidence of extracutaneous microvascular complications and diabetic foot ulcer in patients with type 2 diabetes requires a multidisciplinary approach of medical professionals that includes prevention of risk factors and good regulation of glycemia.

Background: Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) has recently occupied a significant place in the surgical treatment of primary pleural empyema (PPE). Patients with anamnesis shorter than 4 weeks have a good chance of being cured only by VATS. As it is not easy to define precisely the beginning of the disease, it is difficult to say strictly to which period VATS method will be successful in PPE treatment. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of the VATS method in the surgical treatment of primary pleural empyema. Methods: The study included 50 patients with findings appropriate for PPE over a period of three years, in whom the VATS method was applied in the surgical treatment of pleural empyema. Results: The established total length of treatment was 13.56 ± 7.98 days and the length of hospital treatment after surgery was 9.90 ± 3.315. The duration of thoracic drainage was 8.06 ± 3.005. Treatment was completed by the primary procedure without additional interventions in 94% of patients. Based on the final outcome, all patients from the clinic were discharged as cured Conclusion: The best time to indicate surgical treatment by using VATS method is history of disease in duration of four weeks Debridement or VATS decortication method is safe and efficient surgical procedure, especially in the first two stages. It is recommended to use this method as the first surgical option for patients in early stages of the disease.

Summary Geographically dispersed patients, inconsistent treatment tracking, and limited infrastructure slow research for many orphan diseases. We assess the feasibility of a patient-powered study design to overcome these challenges for Castleman disease, a rare hematologic disorder. Here, we report initial results from the ACCELERATE natural history registry. ACCELERATE includes a traditional physician-reported arm and a patient-powered arm, which enables patients to directly contribute medical data and biospecimens. This study design enables successful enrollment, with the 5-year minimum enrollment goal being met in 2 years. A median of 683 clinical, laboratory, and imaging data elements are captured per patient in the patient-powered arm compared with 37 in the physician-reported arm. These data reveal subgrouping characteristics, identify off-label treatments, support treatment guidelines, and are used in 17 clinical and translational studies. This feasibility study demonstrates that the direct-to-patient design is effective for collecting natural history data and biospecimens, tracking therapies, and providing critical research infrastructure.

Dysphagia management, from screening procedures to diagnostic methods and therapeutic approaches, is about to change dramatically. This change is prompted not solely by great discoveries in medicine or physiology, but by advances in electronics and data science and close collaboration and cross-pollination between these two disciplines. In this editorial, we will provide a brief overview of the role of artificial intelligence in dysphagia management.

Purpose: Safe swallowing requires adequate protection of the airway to prevent swallowed materials from entering the trachea or lungs (i.e., aspiration). Laryngeal vestibule closure (LVC) is the first line of defense against swallowed materials entering the airway. Absent LVC or mistimed/ shortened closure duration can lead to aspiration, adverse medical consequences, and even death. LVC mechanisms can be judged commonly through the videofluoroscopic swallowing study; however, this type of instrumentation exposes patients to radiation and is not available or acceptable to all patients. There is growing interest in noninvasive methods to assess/monitor swallow physiology. In this study, we hypothesized that our noninvasive sensor- based system, which has been shown to accurately track hyoid displacement and upper esophageal sphincter opening duration during swallowing, could predict laryngeal vestibule status, including the onset of LVC and the onset of laryngeal vestibule reopening, in real time and estimate the closure duration with a comparable degree of accuracy as trained human raters. Method: The sensor-based system used in this study is high-resolution cervical auscultation (HRCA). Advanced machine learning techniques enable HRCA signal analysis through feature extraction and complex algorithms. A deep learning model was developed with a data set of 588 swallows from 120 patients with suspected dysphagia and further tested on 45 swallows from 16 healthy participants. Results: The new technique achieved an overall mean accuracy of 74.90% and 75.48% for the two data sets, respectively, in distinguishing LVC status. Closure duration ratios between automated and gold-standard human judgment of LVC duration were 1.13 for the patient data set and 0.93 for the healthy participant data set. Conclusions: This study found that HRCA signal analysis using advanced machine learning techniques can effectively predict laryngeal vestibule status (closure or opening) and further estimate LVC duration. HRCA is potentially a noninvasive tool to estimate LVC duration for diagnostic and biofeedback purposes without X-ray imaging.

Introduction: Diabetes as lifelong chronic disease requires pharmacological treatment using plastic pens and needles. Proper disposal of used pens and needles have impact not just on health but environment as well. In 2020 there will be 3.2 million pens used and disposed in Bosnia and Herzegovina resulting in over 600 tons of this waste. Worldwide problem is related to proper disposal of used insulin pens and sharps. Aim: To investigate and evaluate what are the attitudes, knowledge and practices on insulin pens and needles disposal among diabetes patients in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods: The research was conducted in five cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in period December 2019–January 2020 using questionnaire consisted of 28 questions distributed among patients with diabetes through their local patient associations. Results: Total 250 diabetes patients participated. 40.4% inject medicines for 2 times per day and 37.6% for three and more times a day. Patients have not been instructed on proper disposal of used pens or needles in 67.6% and 66% respectively. The most appropriate place to dispose used pens is pharmacies and 90% of respondents would participate in program of collecting used pens if one exists. 75.6% of respondents consider improper disposal of pens and needles as healthcare problem, 18.8% see this as ecological problem and for 4% of them this is not a problem at all. Conclusion: Current practice of disposing used insulin pens and sharps is improper. Patients are aware of health and environmental risk. There is a huge opportunity for pharmacists and other healthcare provides to provide better information and counseling diabetes patients on this topic.

Background: Information and communication technologies (ICT) are widely used in a health care as a result of pharmaceutical informatics and technology developments. There is a huge potential for pharmaceutical practice of technologies utilization in a different practice settings especial community pharmacy and patient counseling. Objective: To evaluate Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) pharmacists` knowledge and attitudes towards informational and communication technologies and extend of its utilization. Methods: Online survey conducted among pharmacists from different practice settings. Results: Pharmacists in BH are familiar and well known regarding importance of informational technologies. 93% are using special pharmaceutical information systems, and majority use technologies and software for prescription processing (47%), calculations (24%) communication (22%) and 9% for Internet search. 90% of pharmacists have profiles on social media mainly Facebook, followed by Instagram and LinekdIn mainly used for networking and communication with peers but less with patients. They have positive attitude regarding potential benefits of using social media for communication with patients and treatment outcomes improvement. Conclusion: Pharmacists in Bosnia and Herzegovina have satisfactory level of information and communication technologies understanding and knowledge. It is of high importance that education of future pharmacist in this field is in line with nature of pharmaceutical informatics in light of its clinical application rather than technical so future pharmacists can contribute to improvements in social media medicines-related information, learn from consumers’ online activities, and design new ways of delivering care to communities and individuals.

Current tables of wood assortments for the most important tree species in B&H were made almost 50 years ago. There is an indication that real forest wood assortments are different than the one derived from assortment tables in-use, both in terms of quality and dimensions. In the meantime, from the creation of the existing tables until today, the standards of production of forest wood assortments have changed, so that the fact of inaccuracy of the existing assortment tables is unquestionable. This continually creates a variety of problems in the ongoing operations of forestry companies. The main aim of this paper is to create wood assortment tables whose assortment of wood products will correlate with the current market conditions. The research was conducted in the area of the Canton 10 in FB&H.  A sample of 393 spruce trees was used as a database to produce this paper. The bucking of the sample trees was carried out in accordance with the valid norms and customer requirements with regards to the dimensions of forest wood products. Data processing was performed using methods of simple and multiple regressions, variance analysis as well as their combinations by the Generalized Linear Models method. Independent factors were breast diameter (DBH), technical quality class and the height of the trees. The share of wood assortments was determined through 10 different mathematical models, and it was found that all independent variables had a statistically significant influence on the dependent variables- volume of particular assortments or group of assortments. The share of logs is growing rapidly with the increase of tree diameter and decreases with decreasing of their technical quality. The influence of tree height primarily correlated with tree volume increase. Trees having better assortment quality, have tree heights higher than average for the same diameter class. The results of the research are presented in the form of tables as percentage share of wood assortment classes.  The obtained results can be used as wood assortment tables in the research area.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the interplay between consumer ethnocentrism and social identity as concepts with significant relevance for different consumer responses in globalized environment. Design/Methodology/Approach – The paper contains analysis of theoretical foundations, based on social identity theory, as well as conceptual content analysis of selected studies that deal with both the observed concepts. Findings and implications – This paper contributes to deeper insights into the interplay between consumer ethnocentrism and identity, and provides a good foundation for explaining and predicting different consumers’ responses in the globalized environment. From the perspective of social identity theory, ethnocentrism is considered to be an important factor in maintaining social identity and preserving it in the changing environment. This proposition is confirmed by empirical studies that show a positive relation between identity and consumer ethnocentrism. On the other hand, some empirical studies reveal somewhat mixed results which indicate that consumer ethnocentrism does not always correspond with the strength of identity. Also, studies that deal with consumer ethnocentrism and identity in Marija Čutura University of Mostar, Faculty of Economics, Matice hrvatske, bb, 8800 Mostar, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, e-mail: marija.cutura@ef.sum.ba Market-Tržište Vol. 32, Special Issue, 2020, pp. 131-146 UDK 658.89:658.62 DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.22598/mt/2020.32.spec-issue.131 Review CONSUMER ETHNOCENTRISM AND SOCIAL IDENTITY: THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS AND EMPIRICAL STUDIES OVERVIEW POTROŠAČKI ETNOCENTRIZAM I SOCIJALNI IDENTITET: TEORIJSKA POZADINA I PRIKAZ EMPIRIJSKIH STUDIJA

There is a significant demand for fast and accurate electromagnetic (EM) imaging of stroke in emergency situations. This article presents a method for encoding the raw S-parameters from the Cartesian matrix to polar grid coordinates with weighting coefficients based on the receiver antenna spatial sensitivity. The polar sensitivity encoding (PSE) scheme is based on the fact that the receiver sensitivity generally has an encoding effect and, in this case, it is applied during the transformation of S-matrices to polar grid, which is geometrically congruent with the shape of the head. The PSE scheme alleviates the need for highly accurate and intricate forward and inverse EM field solvers and mitigates the introduction of numerical errors in addition to the unavoidable experimental uncertainties. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the PSE method is robust to head shifts up to about 5 mm and accurate in localizing strokes in less than a second.

Automatic modulation classification (AMC) is a typical technology for identifying different modulation types, which has been widely applied into various scenarios. Recently, deep learning (DL), one of the most advanced classification algorithms, has been applied into AMC. However, these previously proposed AMC methods are centralized in nature, i.e., all training data must be collected together to train the same neural network. In addition, they are generally based on powerful computing devices and may not be suitable for edge devices. Thus, a distributed learning-based AMC (DistAMC) method is proposed, which relies on the cooperation of multiple edge devices and model averaging (MA) algorithm. When compared with the centralized AMC (CentAMC), there are two advantages of the DistAMC: the higher training efficiency and the lower computing overhead, which are very consistent with the characteristics of edge devices. Simulation results show that there are slight performance gap between the DistAMC and the CentAMC, and they also have similar convergence speed, but the consumed training time per epoch in the former method will be shorter than that on the latter method, if the low latency and the high bandwidth are considered in model transmission process of the DistAMC. Moreover, the DistAMC can combine the computing power of multiple edge devices to reduce the computing overhead of a single edge device in the CentAMC.