We propose a test for anticipated changes in spot volatility, either due to continuous or discontinuous price moves, at the times of realization of event risk in the form of pre-scheduled releases of economic information such as earnings announcements by firms and macroeconomic news announcements. These events can generate nontrivial volatility in asset returns, which does not scale even locally in time. Our test is based on short-dated options written on an underlying asset subject to event risk, which takes place after the options’ observation time and prior to or after their expiration. We use options with different tenors to estimate the conditional (risk-neutral) characteristic functions of the underlying asset log-returns over the horizons of the options. Using these estimates and a relationship between the conditional characteristic functions with three different tenors, which holds true if and only if continuous and discontinuous spot volatility does not change at the event time, we design a test for this hypothesis. In an empirical application, we study anticipated individual stocks’ volatility changes following earnings announcements for a set of stocks with good option coverage.

We continue the work started in parts (I) and (II) of this series. In this paper, we classify which continuous quivers of type A are derived equivalent. Next, we define the new ${\mathcal {C}(A_{{\mathbb {R}},S})}$ , which we call weak continuous cluster category. It is a triangulated category, it does not have cluster structure but it has a new weaker notion of “cluster theory.” We show that the original continuous cluster category of [15] is a localization of this new weak continuous cluster category. We define cluster theories to be appropriate groupoids and we show that cluster structures satisfy the conditions for cluster theories. We describe the relationship between different cluster theories: some new and some obtained from cluster structures. The notion of continuous mutation which appears in cluster theories (but not in cluster structures) appears in the next paper [20].

Objective: To evaluate the effect of interaction with a robotic seal (PARO) for pain management in nursing home residents living with dementia.

Methods: Registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN 12618000082202), a pilot randomized controlled trial followed by semi-structured interviews were conducted between January 2018 and January 2019. Forty-three residents aged ?65 years living with dementia and chronic pain were recruited from three nursing homes in Australia. Participants were randomized to either a PARO group (individual, non-facilitated, 30-minute sessions, five days per week for six weeks) or a usual care group using a computer-generated random number. Observational pain behaviors were rated by researchers using the Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) scale and staff-rated pain levels were measured by the numeric rating scale. Medications regularly prescribed and as needed were quantified by the Medication Quantification Scale-III (MQS-III). Generalized estimating equation model and thematic analysis were used to analyze the data.

Results: Participants in the PARO group had significantly lowered level of observed pain (-0.514, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.774 to -0.254, p<0.001) and used fewer PRN medications (-1.175, 95% CI - 2.205 to -0.145, p=0.025) than those in usual care after controlling for age, gender, cognitive function and medications at baseline. There were no significant differences in staff-rated pain levels and regularly scheduled medications between the two groups. Interviews also indicated that the PARO intervention may reduce the pain experience through distraction and reminiscence of previous positive memories. Limitations of weight, voice and characteristics of PARO were identified.

Conclusions and Implications: PARO shows promise in reducing pain and medications for nursing home residents living with dementia and chronic pain. This intervention might be incorporated into daily practice as an alternative to manage pain in people with dementia. Care staff need to balance the benefits and limitations of incorporating social robots into their clinical practice and residents’ individualized preferences need to be considered. Larger randomized controlled trials with longer time frames are warranted to further test the use of PARO in long-term care settings.

Occasionally, Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) share similar nuclear features. The current study aims to quantify the differences between the investigated specimens of HT-associated PTC versus the HT alone, to reduce the subjective experience of an observer, by the use of fractal parameters as well as gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) textural parameters. We have analyzed 250 segmented nuclei per group (nn = 25 per patient and np = 10 patients per group) using the ImageJ software (NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA) as well as an in-house written code for the GLCM analysis. The mean values of parameters were calculated for each patient. The results demonstrated that the malignant cells from the HT-associated PTC specimens showed lower chromatin fractal dimension (p = 0.0321) and higher lacunarity (p = 0.0038) compared with the corresponding cells from the HT specimens. Also, there was a statistically significant difference between the investigated specimens, in the contrast, correlation, angular second moment, and homogeneity, of the GLCM corresponding to the visual texture of follicular cell chromatin. The differences in chromatin fractal and GLCM parameters could be integrated with other diagnostic methods for the improved evaluation of distinctive features of the HT-associated PTC versus the HT in cytology and surgical pathology specimens.

In this research paper we describe the technological properties of beneficial lactic acid bacteria (LAB) obtained from a dairy production chain and the development of a fermented milk produced with Lactobacillus casei MRUV6. Fifteen LAB isolates (Lactobacillus sp., Pediococcus sp. and Weissela sp.) presented acidifying abilities (pH ranges from 0.73 to 2.11), were able to produce diacetyl (except by 5 isolates) and exopolysaccharides, and two were proteolytic. L. casei MRUV6 was selected for producing a fermented milk, stored up to 35 d at 4 and 10°C. Counts on MRS agar with added vancomycin (10 mg/l) and MRS agar with added bile salts (1.5% w/v) ranged from 9.7 to 9.9 log CFU/g, independently of the tested conditions, indicating stability and intestinal resistance of L. casei MRUV6, despite some significant differences (P < 0.05). The study demonstrated the technological potential of a potential probiotic candidate strain, L. casei MRUV6, to be used as a starter culture in the dairy industry.

High prevalence of benzodiazepine use among citizens of Serbia has been described previously. The fourth year medical students are supposed to have sufficient knowledge on benzodiazepines, but it is also clear that medical students are not immune to substance use and abuse.

This study was conducted to assess the perceptions of a Serbian medical students (fourth year), regarding benzodiazepines utilization.

The study was conducted as cross-sectional, using structured questionnaire with 4 multiple-choice questions. The participation was voluntary and anonymous, 112 students participated and the response rate was 87%.

Results showed that slightly above half of the students (n=64; 57.1%) classified benzodiazepines correctly as anxiolytics/hypnotics (sedatives), while the others (n=48; 42.9%) non-specifically classified benzodiazepines as drugs acting on central nervous system. The majority of students stated that they never use benzodiazepines (n=72; 64.3%). Among benzodiazepines users (n=40; 35.7%), 100% were occasional users (less than once a week). The main reason for benzodiazepines use was insomnia (n=16; 40.0%), anxiety (n=12; 30.0%) and other reasons, such as tremor, muscle spasms etc. (n=12; 30.0%). The majority of benzodiazepines users (n=28; 70.0%) stated that benzodiazepines did not impair their concentration and studying, while the rest (n=12; 30.0%) noticed mild impairment.

Serbian fourth year medical students showed mildly disappointing knowledge on benzodiazepines regarding the classification. However, low rate of benzodiazepines use among students and the lack of recreational use indicate awareness of the risk of drugs misuse in this population.

Withdrawal syndrome and post-detoxication period in opiate addicts is characterized by different psychopathologic phenomena including the depressive syndrome.

The aim was to determine the response of the depressive symptoms in opiate post-detoxication syndrome to antidepressants.

Within the sample of 54 heroin addicts detoxified in the period June 2008 to December 2008, 33% were diagnosed as depression requiring treatment with antidepressants.

The assessment of depression performed 21 day after the last use of opiate by means of CGI-S scale and the improvement during the treatment by CGI-I scale. Duration of the treatment lasted 4 months on average.

The results show reduction in depressive symptoms registered in 83% of patients for at least one point on the CGI-I scale, also patients were kept in the treatment programme approximately 2 mounths longer than average.

Opiate post-detoxication syndrome with depressive symptoms indicates antidepressant use and resulted in remission or recovery of symptoms and improves possibilities to keep patients in integrative treatment program

Elder abuse is a serious problem-each year hundreds of thousands of seniors are abused. Although the problem is described, defined and legislatures exist in many countries elder abuse is not still recognized as public health problem. Red Cross of Serbia has organized education of volunteers in Elder Abuse and Discrimination topic which is very important in sensibilisation among community-dwelling. Volunteers (N=226) were informed with generally accepted definitions, research in the field and legislature in Serbia concerning this issue and proposed network for prevention of elder abuse. Interactive workshops gave us data: distribution and types of elder abuse in their local communities and obstacles in referring and positive examples from practice as problem solving models.

Abuse of older people is a single or a repeated act or a failure to act happening in a relationship between two persons based on trust that causes pain or disturbance on the part of the older person. Red Cross of Serbia is the initiator and the founding member of Humanas (the network of 15 civil society organisations dealing with the issues of older people) and is spearheading a campaign of sensitisation of the public in relation to discrimination, neglect and abuse of older people.

Humanas has educated volunteers in Elder Abuse and Discrimination prevention.

A survey has been done in 8 cities in Serbia polling 250 older people of both sexes, age 65 or above. The survey results demonstrate that 44% of all the polled people are familiar with the existence of abuse. Alarmingly, as high as 32% of older people have been exposed to some form of abuse, with the most frequent form being verbal abuse (11.2%) The polled older people have stressed that they hate being called names, made fun of and called stupid or illiterate, within their families as well as in the general community. As for prevention, 52% of the polled older people think that ‘everybody’, meaning both public and civil sector should play a role in prevention.

During the last 10 years a large volume of circumstantial evidence for an autoimmune aethiology of at least some cases of schizophrenia (SCH) has been collected.

We present the female patient (S.M.), now 41 years old, with four autoimmune diseases and psychosis schizoaffectiva.

Until the age of 2 S.M. had lactae crustae in extremely severe form. From the age of 3-6 she suffered of asthma bronchiale. At the age of 34 she developed the clinical picture of Myasthenia gravis (MG). One year later she got a new relapse of MG. During the diagnostic procedures for MG, just by mistake, an MRI of the brain has been made instead of the MRI of anterior mediastinum, which revealed a huge amount of the demyelinated plaques without any clinical symptoms of Multiple sclerosis (MS). Immunologic examination of the cerebrospinal fluid and evoked potentials examination confirmed the diagnosis of MS. At the age of 40 she got her only up till now clinical relapse of MS.

At the age of 22 S.M. got the first relapse of psychosis compatible with the diagnosis of Psychosis schizoaffectiva. Her psychosis has relapsing course and over the years disabled her in emotional, professional and social capacity.

This case is one more among many cases presented in the literature to contribute to the hypothesis that at least some forms of SCH have the autoimmune origin, which could suggest that immunotherapy might be benefitial to such patients.

In this study, we made an attempt to identify the physician-related factors that determine the choice of drugs in Serbian psychiatric practice.

The study was conducted at two major teaching psychiatric hospitals in Serbia. The structured questionnaire was used, and 41 psychiatrists were interwieved.

Physicians cited approximately four (of eight offered) categories of factors that determine the choice of drugs. Most often, these categories were: safety (adverse effects) (78%), proven efficacy of the drug (73%), recommendations of the relevant guidelines (65%), and reimbursement of the treatment costs by the mandatory health insurance (46%). About 65% of psychiatrists stated that they adhere to the national, or (where there are not national), relevant international therapeutic guidelines. When asked to cite which international or foreign guidelines in particular they used, approximately 50% failed to do so. The other half cited mostly the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Guidelines or National Institute for Health Care and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Guidelines.

The majority of the Serbian psychiatrists rely on the efficacy and safety of the drugs as major determining factors in the choice of therapy. However, substantial percentage of psychiatrists obtain indicators on drugs’ efficacy and safety from their personal professional experience. It is doubtful whether these indicators are valid, or just represent unproven prescribers’ habits. The majority of psychiatrists are willing to accept the relevant guidelines, and the effort should be made on the national level to further develop those guidelines and implement them into everyday practice.