Search

Introduction: While uncomplicated echinococcal cysts can grow in the liver for years without symptoms, complicated hydatid cysts (CHC) present distinct clinical characteristics that necessitate urgent treatment. Case Report: We present a case of acute biliary obstruction, cholangitis, and sepsis due to massive choledocho-hydatididosis in an 84-year-old COVID-positive patient during the COVID-19 pandemic. Imaging revealed a multicystic lesion in liver segments V and VIII that compressed surrounding liver tissue, leading to intrahepatic duct dilation. A daughter cyst in the ductus choledochus was confirmed during surgery. An attempt at endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) was unsuccessful. We performed an open pericystectomy with total cystectomy and choledochotomy, carefully evacuating all hydatid cysts. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged without surgical complications. Conclusion: Complicated hydatid cysts (CHC) leading to acute biliary obstruction require prompt diagnosis and indicate the need for rapid evacuation of the cyst and correction of complications.

Copyright of Agathon: International Journal of Architecture, Art & Design is the property of DEMETRA CE.RI.MED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Inferior vena cava (IVC) anomalies are uncommon congenital causes of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). KILT syndrome (kidney and IVC abnormalities with leg thrombosis) has only been described as case reports in the literature. Therefore, the characteristics, evaluation, and management of patients with KILT syndrome have not yet been standardized. This study aimed to systematically review and analyze the clinical and radiographic data and treatment of previously reported cases of KILT syndrome. In this systematic review, we performed a literature search of the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases in December 2023, with no restrictions on the publication date. After duplicate extractions, 4195 articles were screened. Case reports and case series reporting on KILT syndrome were included. In addition to previously published cases, we included a new case of a previously healthy 25-year-old man with KILT syndrome in the analysis. A total of 34 cases were therefore included in this study. The majority (76.5%) were male patients with a median age of 24 years. In most patients, unprovoked bilateral iliofemoral thrombosis was diagnosed, and 64.7% had left kidney abnormalities. Our study suggests that anomalies of the IVC should be suspected in all young patients, especially male patients, with proximal, recurrent, or idiopathic DVT. If an IVC anomaly is confirmed, the kidneys should be examined to monitor and preserve healthy kidneys in cases of KILT syndrome. The data collected from all patients emphasize the requirement of long-term anticoagulation and risk factor control. Surgical measures may be effective for treating symptomatic refractory cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determination of smoking habits of medical students in Belgrade and the factors influencing cigarette use. A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students from all study years at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, during the 2015–2016 academic session. A questionnaire, composed of four parts, was administered to all participants: 1. socio-demographic characteristics; 2. habits and lifestyle; 3. Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence; 4. the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the factors significantly associated with cigarette smoking. A total of 2551 subjects, which constituted 81.8% of all undergraduate medical students, participated in the survey. The prevalence of current regular smokers among medical students was 21.7%. The results obtained using the Fagerstrom tolerance scale showed that 41.8% of the students had high nicotine dependence. According to the results of a multivariate analysis, the following were the independent determinants of being a smoker: being male, grade point average of <8/10, daily coffee consumption, self-reported excessive leisure time, self-reported pressure from parents, alcohol consumption, and smokers among parents. Understanding the factors influencing tobacco use is the first step in implementing prevention strategies and can be helpful in the cessation of smoking. What is already known about this topic Previous studies showed a strong association between smoking and alcohol consumption among undergraduate medical students. There is an association between tobacco use and academic performance. Higher-income families and the parents without higher education are significantly associated with students' smoking, but these associations were not independent. What this paper adds Independent predictive factors for smoking among undergraduate medical students are being male, having smokers among parents, daily coffee consumption, self-reported excessive leisure time, self-reported pressure from parents and consumption of alcohol. Family income does not influence smoking status of students directly, but students participated in this study from the higher-income families were more likely to have smokers among parents, which were found to be an independent predictive factor. Early psychologists' cessation smoking interventions can have implications for motivating students to quit smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea to create a training centre at the Institute for Emergency Medicine Belgrade was conceived at an unofficial meeting between Prim. Dr Goran Čolaković, the Institute for Emergency Medicine in Belgrade (IEM) General Manager; Prof. Dr Sladjana Andjelić, the IEM Education Center Coordinator; and Prof. Dr Aleksandar Pavlović, the initiator and founder of the Center for Simulation at the University of Pristina Faculty of Medicine Pristina based in Kosovska Mitrovica towards the end of 2015. The need to create a training centre stems from the necessity to provide a contemporary approach to education in treating various emergency medical conditions. This vision requires a new spatial and technical structure with modern phantom mannequins (rescue dummies), medical devices, and equipment. Based on the project financed by the European Union and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the reconstruction of the IEM building with a 2000m2 training centre began in July 2021. The Centre aims to integrate all medical knowledge and skills necessary to treat emergency medical conditions in realistic scenarios. It will, therefore, have two simulation centres, five training rooms, two rooms containing vehicles and a large amphitheatre and library.

The author presents a part of the results of his field research in Šar Mountains Župa Sirinić, a region in the extreme south of Kosovo and Metohija. Starting from the fact that this region has the character of an ethnically mixed area, since, beside the Serbian majority, there also live Albanians, the attention in the paper is paid to the local Serbian-Albanian relations in the context of the position of the Serbs living in Sirinić in the conditions of socio-political processes in Kosovo and Metohija after the NATO aggression on FR Yugoslavia in 1999 until today. The studied problem was observed from the perspective of the local Serbs, which means that in order to achieve the goal of the research the emphasis was placed on the analysis of the discourse of the members of the researched Serbian community. The results presented in the paper were obtained on the basis of field research conducted in Sirinić on several occasions during 2023 and 2024. The results of research affirmed the complexity of the studied topic, since the inter-ethnic relations in the observed area reflected the character of the relationship between the members of the two ethnic groups inherited from the period before 1999, while, at the same time, they were under the influence of diametrically different positions of Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija after the mentioned year, which expressed the position of power of the Albanian side over the Serbian side. Serbian-Albanian relations in Sirinić, according to the perception of local Serbs, manifested one main characteristic, which could probably be best described as ambivalent, which means that, through the prism of the members of the researched Serbian community, the relations with their Albanian neighbors are most often experienced as intertwined coexistence and cooperation, on the one hand, and mutual distrust, on the other.

The paper describes the quality management procedure, with an emphasis on the quality control of the technological process of the production of a digital topographic map on a scale of 1:25,000 (DTK25) at the Military Geographical Institute "General Stevan Bošković". At the very beginning of the work, the basic concepts from the field of quality management, which are defined within the ISO9000:2015 standard, were covered. The following text provides a brief overview of the entire technological process of DTK25 production in the environment of the central Geospatial database, which takes place through seven interconnected phases. After defining the technological production process, the quality management processes that were directly implemented in the technological process were analyzed. The main part of the work presents the analysis of quality control on a concrete example for each of the phases of the technological process.

The author of this paper presents part of the results of his field research in Ibarski Kolašin, a region in the northwest of Kosovo and Metohija. Central attention is paid to the event that the Serbs from Ibarski Kolašin perceive as an important part of their traditional cultural heritage, which is the secondary family patron saint celebration. The research of the mentioned event was carried out in the village of Rujište, located in the eastern part of Ibarski Kolašin, which is characterized by the fact that all its inhabitants celebrate Saint Elijah as a secondary family patron saint. The author tries to present the main elements of the celebration of the Saint Elijah's Day in Rujište, with a focus on a collective aspect of the celebration, while the goal of the paper is an attempt to contribute to the understanding of the researched event as a phenomenon whose important role, viewed from the aspect of demographic processes in Ibarski Kolašin, is the role of social-integrative character. The research procedure applied in the aim of achieving mentioned goal was based on the qualitative method approach, primarily observation and conversations with interlocutors. Field research for the needs of paper in the village of Rujište was conducted in August 2023.

The paper presents a practically realized technical solution for frequency control of the AC power drive of vibrating sieves based on unbalanced vibration exciters. The operation of vibrating screen used in the industry for sieving and separating material fractions of different granulations is determined to a significant extent by the tilting angle of the vibrating sieve, its amplitude, the angle of attack of the excitation force and the frequency of oscillation. The frequency control of the vibrating sieves drive in this particular case made it possible to obtain the amplitude-frequency (AF) characteristic of the vibrating screen and based on it, the optimal operating frequency, which ensures the best separation of individual material fractions was determined. The solution was applied to two process lines in silos for deashing in the system of transport and separation of boiler slag from ash at the Thermal Power Plant "Nikola Tesla" B (TPP-B) in Obrenovac. The paper presents the key experimental results that were obtained during exploitation and testing of two implemented systems of regulated vibrating sieves.

Background/Aim. The role of the complex sepsis-related immune response has not been fully clarified and remains a subject matter of investigation. Nowadays, sepsis is considered a dynamic syndrome characterized by many, often antagonistic phenomena, ranging from hyperinflammation to anergy and immunoparalysis. The aim of the study was to determine, based on the level of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators in critically ill patients with secondary sepsis, whether the cytokine profile differs according to the type of bacterial causative agent, as well as to assess the prognostic value regarding the outcome. The outcome measure was in-hospital mortality. Methods. Blood serum samples were taken from 125 critically ill patients admitted to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit with severe secondary sepsis as a consequence of peritonitis, pancreatitis, or trauma. The average age of the patients was 57.7 ± 17.3 years. Of the total number of patients, 84 (67.2%) were males, and 41 (32.8%) were females. The levels of pro-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12р70, IL-17А, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interferon (IFN)-γ, IFN-γ-inducible protein-10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α and MIP-1β, as well as anti-inflammatory mediators IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, IL-27, IL- 31, and IL-33, were determined at three time intervals – on the day of admission (the first day) and then on the third and fifth day. The type of the bacterial causative agent was determined using standard microbiological analyses. Results. On the third day of measurement, significant differences in the cytokine levels regarding the nature of bacteremia were determined in all pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, except for IL-8. In general, the lowest levels were observed in patients with polymicrobial blood cultures. On the first and fifth days of measurement, no significant differences in the cytokine levels regarding the nature of bacteremia were found. The only significant predictor of the fatal outcome on the first measurement day was IL-17А, Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve (AUC) of 0.665 (95% confidence interval 0.519–0.791; р = 0.034) in the patients with secondary sepsis as a complication of peritonitis. Conclusion. According to the type of bacterial causative agent, the lowest levels of cytokines have been observed in patients with the polymicrobial blood culture. The low level of IL-17А on the first day of measurement is a good predictor of a fatal outcome in patients with peritonitis as an underlying condition of secondary sepsis. On the other hand, the levels of other cytokines correlated with the out-come only on the fifth day of measurement, and they were higher in survivors than in non-survivors.