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(1) Background: home-based spirometry, as a form of telemedicine in pulmonology, was previously successfully implemented in clinical practice in developed countries. However, experiences from developing countries are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and feasibility of home-based spirometry in patients with interstitial lung diseases from Serbia. (2) Methods: 10 patients were given a personal hand-held spirometer with operating instructions and asked to perform daily domiciliary spirometry for the next 24 weeks. The K-BILD questionnaire was used to assess patients’ quality of life, while the questionnaire designed specifically for this study was used to assess their attitudes toward and satisfaction with domiciliary spirometry. (3) Results: there was a significant positive correlation between office- and home-based spirometry at the beginning (r = 0.946; p < 0.001) and end of the study (r = 0.719; p = 0.019). The compliance rate was nearly 70%. The domiciliary spirometry did not affect patients’ overall quality of life or anxiety levels, as measured via different domains of the K-BILD. Patients expressed positive experiences and high satisfaction with the home spirometry program. (4) Conclusions: home-based spirometry may represent a reliable form of spirometry, exploited in routine clinical practice; however, additional research in developing countries with a larger sample size is required.

(1) Background: home-based spirometry, as a form of telemedicine in pulmonology, was previously successfully implemented in clinical practice in developed countries. However, experiences from developing countries are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the reliability and feasibility of home-based spirometry in patients with interstitial lung diseases from Serbia. (2) Methods: 10 patients were given a personal hand-held spirometer with operating instructions and asked to perform daily domiciliary spirometry for the next 24 weeks. The K-BILD questionnaire was used to assess patients’ quality of life, while the questionnaire designed specifically for this study was used to assess their attitudes toward and satisfaction with domiciliary spirometry. (3) Results: there was a significant positive correlation between office- and home-based spirometry at the beginning (r = 0.946; p < 0.001) and end of the study (r = 0.719; p = 0.019). The compliance rate was nearly 70%. The domiciliary spirometry did not affect patients’ overall quality of life or anxiety levels, as measured via different domains of the K-BILD. Patients expressed positive experiences and high satisfaction with the home spirometry program. (4) Conclusions: home-based spirometry may represent a reliable form of spirometry, exploited in routine clinical practice; however, additional research in developing countries with a larger sample size is required.

Invited response to “The first case report of a carcinoma of the gastric cardia (AEG II) after OAGB-MGB”. Gastric and esophageal cancers are common and obesity increases the risk. The mini gastric bypass-one anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB-MGB) is growing popularity, now widely performed around the world. The confluence of these two common events is inevitable. WOS:000518429400002 31832935 Q1

Ovaj rad istražuje faktore i odrednice upravljanja rizikom alternativnih investicija. Alternativne investicije imaju velik i rastući ulagački potencijal u današnjem okruženju, što predstavlja važna istraživačka pitanja. Motivi ulaganja u alternativne fondove su ponajprije vezani uz veće stope povrata od drugih kategorija ulaganja kao i zbog diversifikacije ulaganja. Integracija alternativnih fondova u financijskom sustavu je važna u znanstvenom i aplikativnom smislu. U radu se razrađuju bitne odrednice rizika kod alternativnih fondova te mogućnosti za upravljanje tim rizicima. Analiza je obuhvatila važne pokazatelje rizika i njegova potencijala u kategorijama alternativnih investicija. Izloženo u radu daje poseban doprinos u nedovoljno poznatom i istraženom području alternativnih investicija, posebno u kontekstu financijskih tržišta u razvoju. Alternativne investicije u razvijenim financijskim tržištima postaju standardom, što implicira potrebu za većim poznavanjem bitnih odrednica rizika koje su podložne promjenama u suvremenom ekonomskom okruženju., This paper examines the factors and determinants of risk management of alternative investments. Alternative investments have a large and growing investment potential in today’s environment, and this is related to important research questions. Motives for investments into alternative funds are primarily related to higher rates of return than other investment categories, as well as to the diversification of investments. The integration of alternative funds in the financial system is important in a scientific and applicative sense. The paper sets out the essential determinants of the risk of alternative funds and possibilities for managing these risks. The analysis includes important indicators of risk and their potential in categories of alternative investments. The content of the paper gives a special contribution to the less-known and under-researched area of alternative investments, especially in the context of financial markets in developing countries. Alternative investments are becoming standard in developed financial markets, which implies the need for greater knowledge of the essential determinants of risk that are subject to change in the modern economic environment.

The paper presents the assessment of emission sources and health risk of 16 PAHs in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia, with developed oil, food, chemical and cement industry. Although the observed region has been previously studied with regard to the occurrence of PAHs in ambient air, the sources of emission and health risk using multivariate statistical methods have never been studied before. The research was conducted during the heating and non-heating periods at three sampling sites located in industrial, residential and high-traffic area. The samples were collected by high-volume air sampler and analysed using the GC/MS system. The data were processed using the positive matrix factorization (PMF) and cluster analysis. To assess the cancer-risk of PAHs, potency equivalency factor approach was used. The results of PMF analysis have indicated that significant sources of PAH emissions are industrial processes and diesel combustion during the non-heating, and coal combustion, heating plants and diesel combustion during the heating season. Cluster analysis of experimental data has confirmed the results obtained using the PMF method. Estimated values of lifetime lung cancer risk were higher than those set by the World Health Organization and US Environmental Protection Agency which indicates that cancer risk due to exposure to PAHs in ambient air exists in both time periods on the territory of Novi Sad.

U ovom radu se istražuju odrednice i faktori međunarodnih tokova fondova privatnih vlasničkih ulaganja i pothvatnog kapitala. Ovi fondovi predstavljaju nezaobilaznu kategoriju ulaganja na suvremenim financijskim tržištima. Obujam ulaganja u radu razmatranih fondova je u velikoj mjeri determiniran međunarodnim tokovima kapitala, posebice u Europi. Fondovi privatnih vlasničkih ulaganja i pothvatnog kapitala ostvaruju važne poveznice i integraciju sa realnom ekonomijom i financijskim sustavom, te su u značajnom porastu zbog diversifikacije ulaganja i mogućnosti ostvarenja prinosa. Odrednice tih tokova predstavljaju važno znanstveno pitanje, posebice u suvremeno doba porasta alternativnih investicija. U radu se razrađuju bitni faktori koji utječu na tokove tih fondova kao i time na konkurentnost zemalja u tim tokovima investicija. Analiza obuhvaća važne faktore međunarodne konkurentnosti za prihvaćanje međunarodnog privatnog vlasničkog kapitala kao i tradicijske razloge u ekonomskom sustavu koji uvjetuju razlike u prihvaćenosti investicija uz empirijsku analizu. Rad daje dodatan znanstveni doprinos manje istraženom području međunarodnih tokova alternativnog kapitala. Investicije alternativnih fondova mogu imati značajne pozitivne ekonomske učinke što ukazuje na potrebu boljeg razumijevanja njihovih tokova i konkurentnosti na svim razinama radi ostvarenja gospodarskog razvoja. Posebice u kontekstu promjena u okruženju i financijskom sustavu.

Acute renal infarction as a consequence of renal artery occlusion often goes unrecognized, mostly due to the non-specific clinical features. A quick diagnosis, ideally within three hours of presentation, is a key to renal function recovery.A 62-year-old male patient was admitted with a sudden abdominal pain, right flank pain and nausea. He had a diastolic hypertension at admission and his previous medical history showed atrial fibrillation. Initial clinical diagnosis was aortic dissection. Laboratory findings included elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and serum creatinine levels. There were no signs of aortic dissection or aneurismatic lesions registered during a multislice computed tomographic (MSCT) angiography. However, MSCT angiography demonstrated left "upper" renal artery thrombosis and renal infarction--avascular area of the upper two thirds of the left kidney sharply demarcated from the surrounding parenchyma. Both kidneys excreted the contrast. Anticoagulant therapy was initiated, along with antiarrythmic and antihypertensive medications. The follow-up by computed tomography was performed after nine weeks, and it showed a partial revascularization of the previously affected area.Concomitant presence of flank/abdominal pain, an increased risk for thromboembolism and an elevated LDH suggested a possibility of renal infarction. MSCT angiography is a non-invasive and accurate method in the diagnosis of renal artery occlusion and the resulting renal infarction.

Učinci i sfere utjecaja financijske krize danas su važan interes mnogih znanstvenika, posebno u kontekstu da su posljedice krize i nedostatak adekvatnih rješenja i dalje aktualni. Financijskoj krizi je prethodio rast plasmana financijskih institucija iznad dosadašnjih razina u uvjetima kada pojedine ekonomije nisu imale dovoljnu razinu razvoja te je gospodarski rast bio financiran porastom zaduženja. Kriza se u najvećoj mjeri odrazila na likvidnost financijskog sustava i na stagnaciju ekonomske aktivnosti realnog sektora. Moguće mjere pomoći se razlikuju između pojedinih ekonomija i njihov učinak tek treba utvrditi. Članak prikazuje poveznice financijske krize s bankovnim sustavom, općom likvidnošću i realnom ekonomijom uz pregled novijih i relevantnih teorijskih i empirijskih istraživanja te relevantnih podataka.

Background. Nonspecific upper cervical spine vertebra osteomyelitis is very rare. It is caused most often by contiguous spread from an adjacent focus of infection and rarely by haematogenous dissemination from an extraspinal one. We present a rare case of Coagulase-negative Stahylococcus spp cervical vertebra osteomyelitis, where the clinical presentation of the disease is often atypical. Case report. We analysed the case of 57-year-old female, where we found the diagnostic error in identification of the atlas subluxation on the radiograph and neglected laboratory findings indicating the urinary infection. These led to the disease progression and occurrence of neurological sympthomatology, presented with tetraparesis. A prompt surgery in two steps was planned: the urgent surgical anterior decompression and then the occipitocervical fixation, but the patient died after the first surgical session. Conclusions. The early recognition of symptoms and a prompt diagnosis are always essential for the onset of the accurate therapy. An additional destabilization of the affected segment done by the surgical decompression in the fist step without the adequate stabilization may lead, as shown here, to a sudden fatal outcome.