Institute of histology and embryology 'prof. Dr Aleksandar Đ. Kostić' through the prism of its founder's fate

The Institute of Histology and Embryology "Prof. dr Aleksandar Đ. Kostić" is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The founder of the Institute, the first Professor of Histology and Embryology, and the first Director of the Institute was Professor Aleksandar Đ. Kostić, PhD, one of the last Renaissance figures of the XX century. Investing tremendous effort and enthusiasm he developed the Institute, from a bare room, with only four walls, a floor, and a ceiling, into a building which was, in the late 1920s, considered to be one of the most modern buildings housing a scientific institute in South-East Europe, which, for that time, had exceptionally good conditions for research and teaching, a very dedicated staff, but also a highly developed research potential, a rich library, terminology unit, and a photography department. After the bombing of Belgrade and of the Institute, on April 6, 1941, he rebuilt the building and reestablished the Institute, yet once more, during his lifetime, and then, due to ideological differences, he was forced into retirement and removed from the Faculty. He was morally rehabilitated posthumously, together with a group of teachers from the Faculty of Medicine, at the session of the Academic Council of the Faculty of Medicine held on January 24, 2001.

Differences in demographic characteristics, risky behavior and HIV status of men and women who were voluntarily and confidentially counseled and tested at the Counseling Center for HIV/AIDS of the Institute of Public Health in Belgrade

Introduction/Aim: Voluntary and confidential counseling and testing (VCCT) means getting information about HIV, ways of transmission, recognizing, reducing or avoiding risks for HIV infection, about safe sexual relations, the place where people can be tested, and what they should do depending on the test results in order to protect themselves and other people. The aim of this study was to examine differences in demographic characteristics, risky behavior and HIV status between men and women who were voluntarily and confidentially counseled and tested at the Counseling Center for HIV/AIDS of the Institute of Public Health in Belgrade. Methods: This research was conducted as a cross-sectional study and it included 3,480 persons (43.2% of women and 56.8% of men), who were counseled and tested at the Counseling Center for HIV/AIDS of the Institute of Public Health in Belgrade from 2017 to 2019. ch2 or Fisher's test was used for the statistical analysis of data. Results: The majority of women (42.1%) and men (42.5%) who were counseled and tested were in the age group 21-30 years. Men used DPST services significantly more often than women. HIV positive status was significantly more frequent in men (2.5%) than in women (0.3%). Women came significantly more often to voluntary counseling and testing due to the possible exposure to HIV infection by heterosexual contact (84.9%), accident (11.1%) and raping (1.0%), while men were counseled and tested due to heterosexual contact (59.3%), homosexual and bisexual contact (33.6%) and intravenous drug abuse (1.1%). Men used condoms always or often (40.1%) and had two or more partners (53.2%) more frequently during the last 12 months in comparison to women (24.2% and 20.6%). Conclusion: Voluntary and confidential counseling and testing is necessary in the fight against HIV infection, especially from the perspective of early discovering of people with this infection and education of HIV negative persons about risky sexual behavior and possible prevention measures.

Safety in health: The evacuation of immobile persons from gerontology institution

Introduction/Aim: Gerontology institutions present objects with the presence of a great number of partly mobile or immobile persons. In emergency conditions, their evacuation because of noted reasons can take longer, so the aim of the research was to present several ways for the evacuation of partly mobile and immobile persons older than 70, from gerontology institutions, and to evaluate necessary evacuation time. Methods: For this research, the software Pathfinder 2020 was used for the calculation of evacuation times and predicting of potential situations during evacuation. The gerontology institution, as a used model, presents an object with a basement and four floors. All floors have 16 rooms with two patients in every room. Floors are connected with main stairs, emergency stairs and with four elevators (two cargo elevators for 12 persons per elevator, and two passenger elevators for 6 persons per elevator). The total number of medical and administrative staff is 44, and the number of users of gerontological institution services is 128. The simulation of evacuation from gerontology institution was realized for four different scenarios: The first, when all the elevators are in function and all stairs are accessible; the second, when none of the elevators works but stairs are accessible; the third, when only emergency stairs are in function; the fourth, when only main stairs are in function. Each of these four scenarios has four different situations that depend on the evaluated speed of patient`s movement. Results: The evacuation time when it is possible to use all elevators and stairs is from 895 seconds (14.9 minutes) (for the fastest movement of persons - the first situation) to 958 seconds (16 minutes) (for the slowest movement of persons - the fourth situation), for main and emergency stairs from 984 to 1111.1 seconds (16.4-18.5 minutes), only for emergency stairs from 1997.6 to 2765.3 seconds (33.3-46.1 minutes), and only for main stairs from 1365 to 2342 seconds (22.8-39.0 minutes). Conclusion: The usage of computer software Pathfinder 2020 for the simulation of evacuation presents a very important, safe and cheap way for predicting evacuation way and speed, which can contribute to the national strategy for emergency situations.

Quality of life of elderly persons placed in a nursing home

Modern society in recent decades is facing a large increase in the share of people over 65 in the total population. The research shows that the trend of increasing the number of the elderly is such that it is estimated that the share of people aged 65 and over in the world population will increase significantly (by 56%), from 901 million (12.3%) in 2015 to 1.4 billion (16.5%) in 2030. Nursing homes for the accommodation and care of the elderly are safe places that provide the elderly with reduced physical and other abilities and a life worthy of a human being. A wide field of interest for the research is the perception and experience of home care users about what a quality life in this environment could represent. As part of the quality of life assessment, different domains are assessed, and a certain degree of subjective assessment is included in the choice of quality of life domains. Given the demographic changes that have led to an aging population, as well as longer life expectancy, new measures of social and health policy towards the elderly are increasingly aimed at raising the quality of life of the elderly, while scientific research is increasingly focused on identifying factors that affect the quality of life of the elderly.

Assessment of the influence of overweight and obesity on the development of prehypertension and hypertension in children aged 6-15

Introduction/Aim: 41 million children under the age of 5 and 340 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 are overweight or obese. Obesity in children and adolescents is the most important predictor of high blood pressure. The aim of the study was to examine the incidence of overweight and obesity in primary school children aged 6 to 15 years, as well as to examine the incidence of prehypertension and hypertension in children who were overweight and obese. Method: The study included 85 of 86 children from the Primary School "Krupa na Uni". Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire, while body weight and blood pressure were measured. The chi-square test and t-test were used for the statistical analysis of data Results: The cross-sectional study included 85 children, 45 (52.9%) boys and 40 (47.1%) girls with an average age of 10.87 ± 2.70 years. Normal weight was found in 54 (63.5%) subjects, underweight in 12 (14.1%), overweight in 5 (5.9%), and obesity in 14 (16.5%). 76 (89.4%) subjects had normal blood pressure values, 5 (5.9%) prehypertensive state, and 4 (4.7%) arterial hypertension. There was no significant difference between younger and older children regarding their nutritional status (p=0.477) and blood pressure levels (p=0.453). Children who were overweight and obese had prehypertension and hypertension significantly more often (p˂0.001). Conclusion: Every fifth child was overweight or obese, while prehypertension or hypertension were found in every tenth child. The timely change of diet and physical activity could contribute to the regulation of body weight and the regulation of blood pressure, as well.

First report on growth hormone treatment response in a patient with spondylodysplastic type of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome with normal growth hormone secretion

Introduction/Aim: Spondylodysplastic Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (sdEDS) is a rare genetic disorder of collagen synthesis, caused by a mutation in the B4GALT7, B3GALT6, or SLC39A13 gene. Features of this very rare disorder are short stature, hypotonia, hyperflexible joints, soft, thin, and overly stretchable skin, sparse hair and eyebrows, elderly face, wide forehead and prolonged wound healing. Molecular genetic analysis is needed for definite confirmation of the diagnosis. So far, only three case reports describing growth hormone treatment response in patients with sdEDS have been published. All of these patients had growth hormone (GH) deficiency. We present the first case report regarding growth hormone treatment response in a patient with sdEDS and normal GH secretion (without GH deficiency). Case report: Patient was a girl with short stature and normal GH secretion. Having in mind that the girl was born small for the gestational age, due to her short stature, she started using HR, before the diagnosis of sdEDS was made. Based on the lack of improvement in growth velocity as well as the girl's phenotype, genetic analyses were performed and the diagnosis of sdEDS due to biallelic mutations of the B4GALT7 gene was established. After the diagnosis of sdEDS was made and due to suboptimal response in growth velocity to the GH treatment, the GH therapy was stopped at the age of 11 years. Conclusion: This is a first case report regarding GH treatment in a child with sdEDS and normal GH secretion, demonstrating a very limited therapeutic effect of GH on linear growth in the presented patient.

Manufacture of x-ray apparatus in Serbia

X-ray diagnostics has an irreplaceable place in radiology despite other modern diagnostic methods. That is why the production of modern X-ray machines is strategically important for every health system. Serbia has a tradition of over 70 years in the production of X-ray machines. From the first device manufactured in Serbia in 1953, it kept pace with the world in technical and technological terms. X-ray machines were produced by the state company Jugorendgen from Nis. Unfortunately, the company Jugorendgen stopped production before it managed to make a digital X-ray machine. For the past 17 years, these devices have been manufactured by Visaris. Visaris is a private company from Belgrade, which has been developing and manufacturing digital X-ray machines and software systems since 2003. Its importance came to the forefront during the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infection when the health system of Serbia needed more stationary and mobile X-ray machines in a short time period.

Smartphone addiction

The number of smartphone users worldwide exceeds three billion today and further growth of several hundred million is projected over the next few years. The development of multifunctional smartphones and their use have changed the way of communication and information, but also led to concerns about their excessive use and dependence. In recent years, research on smartphone addiction has been on the rise. Parallels between excessive smartphone use and behavioral addiction are common in research. According to many authors, "smartphone addiction" can be considered a behavioral addiction. There is evidence for structural and functional changes in the brain, characteristic of behavioral addictions, in people who meet the psychometric criteria for "smartphone addiction." Some authors even suggest criteria for diagnosing smartphone addiction. On the other hand, some authors believe that the use of the term "addiction" can misrepresent the severity of the disorder, and therefore suggest the use of the term "problematic smartphone use". Due to growing concerns about the excessive use of smartphones, much is being done to identify and assess problematic smartphone use, mainly through the development and application of behavioral assessment scales. These scales are specially developed and validated to identify problematic smartphone use or to diagnose people with smartphone addiction, overuse, excessive phone attachment, etc. However, despite the fact that most of these scales are designed to be used for clinical purposes in the future, the problematic use of smartphones as a type of addiction is not in the International Classification of Diseases and these scales are still used only for research purposes. The use of the terms " problematic smartphone use " and "smartphone addiction", different methodological approaches used in the study, such as the application of different scales and the lack of standardized diagnostic criteria, make it difficult to define "smartphone addiction". All this supports the fact that "smartphone addiction" is a complex phenomenon that requires additional research.

Lesions on the soft palate caused by oral sexual intercourse: A case report

Background/Aim: Oral sex is a common practice in sexually active people of all ages, including teenagers and can be accompanied by sexually transmitted infections and trauma of the oral or genital region. The aim of this study was to present the lesions on the soft palate that occurred after receptive oral sexual intercourse. Case report: We present a 17-year-old student with fellatio-associated purpuric lesions on the soft palate, which disappeared spontaneously within ten days. Conclusion: Dental care professionals should be aware that petechial oral lesions may result from sexual intercourse and data on oral sex practice should always be taken.

Epidemiological characteristics of outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease in kindergartens in Belgrade during the period from 2015 to 2019

Introduction/Aim: For the first time in the world Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease was reported in 1957 in Canada, while the first outbreak of this disease was registered in Belgrade in 2014.The aim of this paper is to analyze epidemiological characteristics of outbreaks of HFMD, which occurred in kindergartens in Belgrade in the period from 2015 to 2019. Methods: A descriptive epidemiological study was applied. Data were collected from epidemiological questionnaires, Reports of Center for Disease Control and Prevention, City Institute of Public Health Belgrade, from the case history of sick children, and using the results of the virological and serological analyses that had been done in the Reference Laboratory of the Institute of Virology, Vaccines, and Sera "Torlak". Results: In the period from 2015 to 2019, 20 HFMD outbreaks were registered, in which a total of 220 children became ill. The total number of infected children in outbreaks ranged from 9 to 102. Boys were slightly more often ill (52%), as well as persons aged two years (51%). All patients had a maculopapular rash, and most had a fever (96%) and malaise (68%). Enterovirus was detected by Real-Time PCR in two infected children. The disease passed without any complications. Conclusion: By timely application of anti-epidemic measures, by reporting the disease, isolation and treatment of patients, respecting the measures of general and personal hygiene, as well as measures of current disinfection in the collective, it is possible to successfully stop further spread of the infection.