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Ultimately, this article should not be taken as an appeal against a Latin letter, nor should the author's intention to ban or restrict the use of this letter. The main goal is that the Latin letter in the areas where the Serbian people live cannot be primary, but should be used only as required by the Serbian Constitution, as well as the still applicable Law on the Official Use of Languages and Letters in the Republic of Serbia. Giving up your own letter (Cyrillic) is a sign of the lack of awareness of the need to nurture its own cultural values, preserve national identity and its characteristics. It also points to a lower-value complex and a misconception that moving away from ourselves will bring us closer to others. One should also remember the words of our writer Laze M. Kostić that "with the emergence of Cyrillic, Serbs were culturally created, with its renunciation they would culturally disappear. They would cease to exist as an independent nation, an independent cultural individuality". Neither will the laws of Cyrillic or not sufficiently and desirably, unless we just change our awareness of it. Only in this way can we correct the mistakes of the not-so-distant past (from the second half of the 20th century), and learn the not to give up Cyrillic for any purposes, ideals, possibly future state unions and the aforementioned brotherhood and unity.

On 7th October, 1908, Austro-Hungary executed an annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This act of Austro-Hungary caused a great diturbance among the inhabitants of Novopazar sandzak. Serbs joined Turkish and Albanians at protest rallies and boycott of Austro-Hungarian goods. It made an impression that closer cooperation could be made, even the union between Serbs and Muslim - Albanian leaders. Austro-Hungary was especially afraid of common appearances of Orthodox and Muslims, supporters of young Turkish authorities against the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore Austro-Hungary endeavoured to destabilize this area, encouraging the hate between Christians and Mohammedans. In Sjenica, on 19th October (1st November), 1908, an assembly took part, which was attended by the representatives of Orthodox and Mohammedan people from Novopazar sandzak. Serbs were represented by 27 deputies from Donji Vasojevići, Pljevlja and Bijelo Polje. Many of deputies made a speech on the assembly, and among the speakers the representatives of Serbs from Donji Vasojevići were prominent. Only three days after the assembly in Sjenica, the public choir was organized at Đurđevi Stupovi in Berane. On this choir which took part on 22nds October (4th november), 1908, the assembled people from sjenica, Novi Pazar, Nova Varoš, Prijepolje, Bijelo Polje, Rožaje and Berane condemned the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina once again. On the assembly, where about 3000 Orthodox and Mohammedan inhabitants took part together, they chose the joint Committee of Serbs and Turks for planned action against Austro-Hungarian violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the end, this shameful act of violence that Austro-Hungary had done, was condemned by resolution and the potest was sent to European forces because they allowed one violent state to break Berlin Contract, and also demand for not allowing Austro-Hungary to "grab someone else's land and oppress other nations". Serbia and Montenegro were trying to acquire Constantinople for trinomial Military Alliance. They tended to make Military convention with Turkey and they were ready to pay the compensation for concession of Sandzak. However, the three states didn't make an alliance. Beside the declarative condemnation of annexation, Turkey didn't have enough determination for armed opposing to Austro-Hungary. In whole Turkey, especially in Sandzak, among Mohammedan population, there was the suspicion toward intentions of Belgrade and Cetinje. The solidarity of Orthodox and Muslim population existed only at the beginning of annexation crisis, and later it started to disappear. Turkish hypocritical politicians negotiated simultaneously with Austro-Hungary, too. Thus, on 26th February, Turkey officially admited the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in that way struck a death blow to Serbo-Montenegrian hopes. Since Russia, according to European "March ultimatum, also admitted the annexation in March, 1909, Serbian Government didn't have the choice, so they did the same on 31st March, 1909. Five days later (on 5th April), Montenegro also admitted the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. By these admissions, an annexation crisis calmed down, but the dissatisfaction of the entire Serbian population was still great.

The author points out the Austro-Hungarian influence on the Catholic Albanians-fandas in Prizren and Peć sanjak in the early 20th century. Austro-Hungarian activity in this field intensified after the Serbo-Turkish wars and the Congress of Berlin. Violence against the Serbian population had since become more frequent, aided by the fandas that have the support and protection of Roman Catholic priests and Austro-Hungarian diplomats. The Catholic Albanian people commit various forms of zulum over Serbian people, who powerless before them abandoned their properties. A large number of Serbian properties were getting new owners -fandas, that were settled with the permission of the beys. The Austria-Hungary, wishing to cause as much disorder as possible, incited the fandas and Mohammedan Albanian people against the Serbian people, in whom they saw the main obstacle to the achievement of their aims and the occupation of these regions. The situation demanded greater involvement of Serbian and Russian diplomacy in protecting the thinned-out Serbian population in Peć and Prizren sanjak.

Everything that had happened to Serbian people during a long period of slavery under Turkish authority, was also being repeated in Old Serbia and Macedonia after Berlin Congress, when The Principality of Serbia became internationally recognized state. Saved archival documents from this period undoubtedly show all the cruelty with which Albanians and Bulgarians, encouraged and helped by Turkish authorities, tortured, killed, burnt, robbed and persecuted Serbs from Old Serbia and Macedonia. This kind of position of Serbian people in Old Serbia and Macedonia obliged Serbia to intensify its state and national political activity with the aim of their protection. Serbian politicians, diplomats, scientists and publicists start dealing more studiously with Old Serbia and Macedonia. At these Serbian areas people are travelling, recording and trading more and more, cherishing the connections among people, and, in many different ways, reviving old Serbian traditions. Thanks to their reports, the real image of state in Old Serbia and Macedonia started to be created in Serbia. Thanks to them, Serbian Government could intervene at great powers in Constantinople in order to protect Serbian people. To save Serbian people from Albanian-Turkish attacks and also from stronger and stronger Bulgarian exzarchian propaganda in Old Serbia and Macedonia, the work plan should have been made, according which, in future, they could work in organized and systematic manner, so that Serbian people could save their national conscience and strengthen their aspiration for national unity and the unification with The Kingdom of Serbia. In April 1883, the commission for plan making was formed. It consisted of educational and public workers, like archimandrites - Nićifor Dučić and Sava Dečanac and the professor of Prizen`s Gospel-Đorđe Kamperelić. In order to continue the work, at the plan making, the commission should have used all previous experiences in work, and especially the reports about the work of people who had previously been involved in these activities (Miloš S. Milojević, archimandrites Sava Dečanac and Đorđe Kamperelić). Until 1884, lots of suggestions had been made and also the plans about concrete forms of national politics which Serbia could lead in European vilayets of Turkey. In these suggestions and plans, beside statements about difficult position of Serbian people, were also the measures which should be undertaken and their methods for suppressing Albanian-Turkish violence and Bulgarian propaganda.

The proving of the history of the Serbian people in all the territories it once inhabited in the past, in any way, cannot represent a unilateral act of an individual or group. Any failure or incorrectly drawn conclusions by the responsible elite, as a rule, result in scientifically-legal solutions that are very difficult or even impossible to be corrected. Therefore, the protection and constant proof of historical stability is a process that, among other things, must protect the material monuments and spiritual organization of the Church which, in themselves, represent the spiritual inheritance on the basis of which the historical existence and duration of the Serbian people in its living environment are confirmed. In this regard, the aim of the paper is to analyse the historical facts of St. Stefan Štiljanovic's attention to the importance of the historical heritage of the church as one of the protection forms of the historical life of the Serbian people in its ethnic territory. In the historic period of the Serbian people, in the Austrian monarchy, he had an important socio-political position. The negation of the history of his personality as well as the authentic prayerfulness was directly targeted against the Serbian religious and ethnic historical continuity of existence in certain parts of the Serbian ethnic territory.

Proclamation of the famous Gulhane Hatt-i Sharif, the reform act that announced the equality of all subjects of the Ottoman Empire regardless of their religion, started a new age - Tanzimat period (1839-1876), during which a wide program of reforms was initiated that transformed the institutional, economic and social order of the Empire. However, the Tanzimat period did not manifest itself only as the period of renewal, it was the age of great discord and uprising in the Ottoman Empire. Gulhane Hatt-i Sharif did not improve the position of the Serbian people in Old Serbia, where, during the first years after the proclamation of the reform act, constant anarchy ruled. During these years, the Arnaut oppression over the Serbian population became regular, which resulted in a mass migration of Serbian families into the Principality of Serbia. The situation temporarily stabilized after the suppression of the Arnaut anti-reform insurrection of Dervish Cara (1843-1844), after which the implementation of Tanzimat reform started in the territory of Old Serbia.

The failure of Austrian troops in battles against the Turks in the Balkans in the Great Turkish War caused the expulsion of the large number of Orthodox Christian Serbs from Ottoman empire. In 1690 they migrated to Hungary under the leadership of the Patriarch Arsenije III Čarnojević, where they mainly inhabited the southern parts of the state, around the Danube and Sava rivers, creating a new parish and diocesan network called Metropolitanate of Karlovci. An important aspect of the revival of the church life was related to religious art, which patterns were transferred from the Ottoman state. However, the old pattern of visual iconography did not correspond to the changed political and cultural circumstances. Therefore, in the first decades of the 18th century, church officials began to reform the traditional religious forms of post-Byzantine art and to adapt it to the current religious needs. Under the patronage of the next Patriarch Arsenije IV Jovanović, it became mandatory for the church officials to follow the new models in icon and wall painting. This paper is analyzing the relations of impact of migrations of people on the changes in attitude toward traditional forms of piety and religious art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Receiving report of an abnormal finding from a Pap screening test in women often leads to psychological distress. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Cervical Dysplasia Distress Questionnaire (CDDQ) among women in Serbia. Methods: In 2017, we conducted a cross-sectional study involving 154 consecutive women attending cervical cancer screening who had received abnormal Pap smear results. Results: Reliability assessment showed good internal consistency for all CDDQ subscales (Tension and discomfort: Cronbach’s α = 0.844; Embarrassment: α = 0.864; Sexual and reproductive consequences: α = 0.867; and Health consequences: α = 0.913). The test-retest reliability showed that the correlation coefficients (between 0.805 and 0.983) were significant at the 0.01 level for all of the Serbian CDDQ subscales. Principal Axis Factoring with Direct Oblimin rotation indicated four main components that explain 55.0% of variance. Conclusion: The Serbian version of the CDDQ scale is a valid and reliable instrument for the assessment of psychological distress among women with abnormal Pap smear results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aim was to translate and validate the Glaucoma Symptom Scale (GSS) in Serbian language. Methods: Clinical parameters and socio-demographic data were collected for each of the 177 enrolled glaucoma patients. Each eye was classified according to the Glaucoma staging system by Mills into 6 stages. Patients filled out the GSS and National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ 25). The GSS comprises 10 complaints common for glaucoma patients on a topical treatment, grouped into two subscales: SYMP-6 (non-visual) and FUNC-4 (visual problems). The GSS was translated following the customary methodology and its psychometric properties were assessed by using both Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Rasch analysis. Results: The internal consistency of the Serbian GSS for the whole scale was very good (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.81). On factor analysis items were clustered into 2 factors (48.92% of variance) which corresponded to the original scale. The total and subscale GSS scores correlated significantly with measures of disease severity and also with total score and analogous NEI-VFQ 25 subscale scores. In Rasch analysis we obtained adequate item reliability index (0.90). Almost all items had infit and outfit mean squares in the accepted range. However, measurement precision was poor (low person separation reliability) and targeting revealed a ceiling effect. Conclusion: When analyzed with CTT the Serbian version of the GSS seems to be a valid instrument, but Rasch analysis revealed some serious measurement flaws, therefore it should not be used in its current format. Further studies to modify and improve GSS are needed prior to its application for Serbian glaucoma patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the author deals with the contemporary festive culture of the Serbian people reflected in various forms of irrationality - above all immodesty, uncontrollability and wastefulness. The author shows how a wedding, as the main Serbian custom, becomes a general pattern of celebration and how this model is transmitted onto all other holidays - both private (family and personal) events and those collective events such as national and local holidays (religious and state holidays). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent genetic studies and whole-genome sequencing projects have greatly improved our understanding of human variation and clinically actionable genetic information. Smaller ethnic populations, however, remain underrepresented in both individual and large-scale sequencing efforts and hence present an opportunity to discover new variants of biomedical and demographic significance. This report describes the sequencing and analysis of a genome obtained from an individual of Serbian origin, introducing tens of thousands of previously unknown variants to the currently available pool. Ancestry analysis places this individual in close proximity to Central and Eastern European populations; i.e., closest to Croatian, Bulgarian and Hungarian individuals and, in terms of other Europeans, furthest from Ashkenazi Jewish, Spanish, Sicilian and Baltic individuals. Our analysis confirmed gene flow between Neanderthal and ancestral pan-European populations, with similar contributions to the Serbian genome as those observed in other European groups. Finally, to assess the burden of potentially disease-causing/clinically relevant variation in the sequenced genome, we utilized manually curated genotype-phenotype association databases and variant-effect predictors. We identified several variants that have previously been associated with severe early-onset disease that is not evident in the proband, as well as putatively impactful variants that could yet prove to be clinically relevant to the proband over the next decades. The presence of numerous private and low-frequency variants, along with the observed and predicted disease-causing mutations in this genome, exemplify some of the global challenges of genome interpretation, especially in the context of under-studied ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: The Fear Avoidance Components Scale (FACS) is a new patient-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaire designed to comprehensively evaluate fear avoidance (FA) beliefs and attitudes in persons with painful medical conditions. The original English version has demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties, including concurrent and predictive validity. Two factors have been identified: 1. general fear avoidance; and 2. types of activities that are avoided. Methods: The FACS was first translated into Serbian, and then psychometrically validated. A cohort of 322 chronic musculoskeletal pain subjects completed the FACS-Serb and additional FA-related patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures. Their FACS-Serb scores were then compared to a cohort of 68 acute pain subjects. Results: Test-retest reliability (ICC2,1 = 0.928) and internal consistency for both Factors (Cronbach α 0.904 and 0,880 respectively) were very good. An acceptable fit was found with a confirmatory factor analysis of the 2-factor model found with the original English version of the FACS. Strong associations were found among FACS-Serb scores and other PRO measures of pain catastrophizing, depressive/anxiety symptoms, perceived disability, and pain intensity (p<0.001 for all analyses). FACS-Serb total scores, separate Factor scores, and subjective pain ratings were significantly higher in the chronic vs. acute pain cohorts (p<0.001 for all analyses). Conclusions: The FACS-Serb demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including strong reliability and internal consistency, criterion validity (through associations with other FA-related PRO measures), and discriminant validity (through comparisons with a separate acute pain cohort). The FACS-Serb appears to be a potentially useful pain-related assessment tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study were to estimate the prevalence and patterns of illicit drug use in a sample of University students from North Kosovo, to assess factors associated with illicit drug use and to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among students according to illicit drug use. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Student Public Health Center, where 514 University students were enrolled from April to June 2015 in North Kosovo. Participants completed the general socio-demographic and behavioral questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the SF-36 questionnaire for HRQoL assessment. Data on lifetime illicit drug use were self-reported. Results: As much as 16.0% of students reported ever illicit drug use. The most frequently used drugs were marijuana (9.3%) and bromazepam (7.6%). Factors associated with ever illicit drug use were: being smoker and alcohol user, having chronic diseases and having higher depressive symptoms score. Ever illicit drug users reported all domains of HRQoL as worse. Conclusion: These results could serve as a tool for implementation of preventive strategies and University policies to promote healthy lifestyles and behaviors. Measurement of HRQoL could also be used as indicator of the effect of interventions designed to reduce and/or prevent illicit drug use at institutions of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed at establishing baseline key epidemiological parameters for varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection in Vojvodina, Serbia, with the ultimate goal to quantify the VZV transmission potential in the population. Seroprevalence data generated during the first large cross-sectional VZV serosurvey were modelled, using a two-tiered modelling approach to calculate age-specific forces of infection (FOI), the basic reproduction number (R0) and herd immunity threshold (H). Seroprevalence and modelling data were compared with corresponding pre-vaccination epidemiological parameters from 11 countries participating in the European Sero-Epidemiology Network 2 (ESEN2) project. Serbia fits into the general dynamic VZV transmission patterns in Europe in the pre-vaccine era, with estimated R0 = 4.12, (95% CI: 2.69–7.07) and H = 0.76 (95% CI: 0.63–0.86). The highest VZV transmission occurs among preschool children, as evidenced by the estimation of the highest FOI (0.22, 95% CI: 0.11–0.34) in the 0.5–4 age group, with a peak FOI of 0.25 at 2.23 years. Seroprevalence was consistently lower in 5–14 year-olds, resulting in considerable shares of VZV-susceptible adolescents (7.3%), and young adults (6%), resembling the situation in a minority of European countries. The obtained key epidemiological parameters showed most intense VZV transmission in preschool children aged <4 years, justifying the consideration of universal childhood immunization in the future. National immunization strategy should consider programs for VZV serologic screening and immunization of susceptible groups, including adolescents and women of reproductive age. This work is an important milestone towards the evaluation of varicella immunization policy options in Serbia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Berlin's Congress from 1878, a part of Southern Serbian areas acquired its freedom. There were four districts: Niški, Pirotski, Toplički and Vranjski. Nevertheless, a large part of Serbian ethnic area in the South remained outside of the borders of the independent Serbia, that is, in the scope of Ottoman Empire. This paper is telling on the position and suffering of the Serbian national being in the territory of Old Serbia during 1905, based on the reports of the daily newspaper 'Politika'. Since the 'Politika' was considered as the one of the most legible daily newspapers in the Kingdom of Serbia, by analysing of its texts on the circumstances in the territory of Kosovar and Bitoljski villayet, we tried indirectly to show the importance of newspaper's articles in the procedure of historical truth on the destiny of Southern Serbian countries definition, during the first decade of the 20th century.

We report the results of a study comparing the temporal dynamics of thematic and taxonomic knowledge activation in a picture-word priming paradigm using event-related potentials. Although we found no behavioral differences between thematic and taxonomic processing, ERP data revealed distinct patterns of N400 and P600 amplitude modulation for thematic and taxonomic priming. Thematically related target stimuli elicited less negativity than taxonomic targets between 280–460 ms after stimulus onset, suggesting easier semantic processing of thematic than taxonomic relationships. Moreover, P600 mean amplitude was significantly increased for taxonomic targets between 520–600 ms, consistent with a greater need for stimulus reevaluation in that condition. These results offer novel evidence in favor of a dissociation between thematic and taxonomic thinking in the early phases of conceptual evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author considers certain theoretical-methodological issues in sociological research of morality of one nation: is it justified, from the point of view of sociological research, to attribute certain moral characteristics to the whole ethnic group (in this case: Serbian people)? Is it justified to differentiate one nation's morality from nations that are closely connected to it by region, temper and inheritance of culture? Does that kind of act represent a non-critical accepting of stereotypes? A retrospective view to the existing studies of ethnography, anthropology and ethno-psychology, as well as consideration of connection of morality, character and culture, refer to the answer that there is a scientific basis for describing an ethnic dimension of the whole nation, which a sociologist has a view in primarily by applying qualitative methods. Nevertheless, the conclusion is that distinction in regional and social stratification in moral usage and normative structure (as well as differentiating between those two) can be methodologically more useful for sociology, than making generalizations on a national level.

This paper researches the reasons in the form of historical-sociological discourse which led to multiple genocidal actions over the Serbian people in his newer history - during the 20th century. Genocidal politics that has been carried out furiously over the Serbian people during the 20th century, led the Serbian people to the edge of their national and biological survival. Above all, the enemies of the Serbian people are the nations of the Europe (neighboring countries and the countries of the Western Europe) as well as the U.S.A., which pride themselves on being the paragon of democratic nations. However, such classification, given to the aforementioned countries, didn't have foundation in their real deeds. Serbian people paid the tragic cost of the biological survival caused by their strategic and war - games as well as their genocidal actions over the Serbian people. .

Author uses example of the last presidential elections in Montenegro trying to analyze several factors of transition at the Balkans. The overview of the elections' process shows that international community is the key factor in preventing democratic changes in this small state. The main reason for this attitude is geopolitical rearrangement of the Balkans intended toward oppression and cleaning of Serbian factor in former Yugoslav republics. Finally, author shows that crucial factor of this chain in making of new constellation is business and Serbian political elite, whose behavior displays absolute lack of national consciousness, responsibility and solidarity.

This paper presents the development of the political situation in the Pashaluk of Belgrade in the late 18th and early 19th century. On the eve of the 19th century, the Turkish feudal system faced the events that deeply shook the entire legal and socioeconomic order in the empire. Under such circumstances, the Turkish Empire underwent major upheavals, which were caused by wars with Austria and Russia, the political changes in Europe, as well as the growing liberation movements of subordinated Balkan peoples. These movements, which were particularly prominent in the Pashaluk of Belgrade, gave rise to a massive liberation uprising of the Serbian people in the early 19th century, known as the Serbian revolution, which marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the Serbian people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the social and agrarian-legal status of the Serbian people in the Niš Pashaluk (Eyalet) in the first half of the 19th century. The difficult position of the Serbian people in the Niš Pashaluk significantly worsened with the introduction of the chiflik (Çiftlik Sahibi) system in rural areas. In the years following the First Serbian Uprising, peasant land was increasingly disappearing while Serbian peasant were imposed with new taxes and levies. The legal status of peasants was not regulated and depended solely on the will of the Çiftlik Sahibi. The Çiftlik Sahibi land seizure across entire areas was done by force with the use of coercive tactics and brutal clashes between feudal lords and the Christian population. The process of Çiftlik Sahibi disintegrated the customary and traditional social organization of the Serbian people in the historic Old Serbia, destroyed the people's municipal self-government, and turned all the villages with family inherited land (Serbian "baština") on former Sipahi estates into chifliks. The Çiftlik Sahibi system degraded the Serbian rural population both socially and in the agrarian-legal sense. This paper is based on the unpublished archival sources and relevant literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the many-faced crisis in the Orthodox Church in Serbia, visible in almost all aspects of its contemporary existence. Among the examples are those that point to the existence of the crisis of criteria, the crisis of consistency, the crisis of the sacred, the crisis of indiscriminate interpretation of history and its heritage, the crisis of "feeling for others", and the crisis of the sense of "the spirit of the times" and "the spirit of place". The paper also features the possible reasons why the professional community, primarily in the field of sociology, psychology, and (art) history, did not adequately deal with the aforementioned issues, with the view that this endeavour requires deep elaboration, as well as courage and objectivity, including the willingness to interpret all sides of history, ancient and modern, regardless of whether it is (predominantly) "light" or "dark". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]