Background. The incidence of hearing loss is constantly increasing and according to the World Health Organization, by 2050, 900 million people will suffer from hearing loss. The main Objective of the study was to determine the differences between the severity of the symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression in participants with varying degrees of sensorineural hearing loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. An additional aim was to examine the extent and manner in which protective face masks impact the communication of people with hearing loss. Matrials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, which included 160 patients (81 men and 79 women) with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The patients’ age range was 50 to 80 years. Depending on the degree of hearing loss or pure-tone threshold, the participants were divided into four groups: mild hearing loss, moderate hearing loss, severe hearing loss and profound hearing loss. The research used the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and a questionnaire in which the participants reported whether surgical face masks (medical three-layer masks) worn by speakers makes communication difficult, to what extent and in what way. Results: The average age of the patients was 67.97 ± 8.16. A significant correlation was found between the degree of hearing loss and communication difficulties caused by the use of protective face masks (p < 0.001). For patients with severe and profound hearing loss, communication is significantly more difficult (50.0% and 45.0% respectively) when the interlocutor wears a face mask. There is a significant correlation between the degree of hearing loss and the way in which communication is made more difficult when the interlocutor wears a face mask (p < 0.001). A statistically significant difference was determined between the degrees of hearing loss in all measured subscales: stress (p = 0.024), anxiety (p = 0.026) and depression (p = 0.016). Conclusions: We have determined that face masks used during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly hamper communication among the study groups (p = 0.007) and there is a significant correlation between the degree of sensorineural hearing loss and the presence of symptoms in all three DASS-21 subscales, meaning that the symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression were more intense in severe and profound hearing loss.

The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between speaker self-confidence, test anxiety and fear of negative evaluation in college students, as well as connection of these variables with self-assessment of the preparedness for exam and confidence in their knowledge. There were 221 students (male and female) that participated in the study. The authors applied following scales: Scale of speaker self-confidence, Scale of test anxiety, Scale of fear of negative evaluation, and sociodemographic questionnaire designed for this research (gender, age, college year, level of parental education), as well as self-assessment of preparedness for exam and self-assessment of the confidence in one's own knowledge. The test was carried out during the examination period. The results of the study show that there is a significant correlation between confidence in one's knowledge and test anxiety, readiness for exam and speaker anxiety, as well as test anxiety, speaker anxiety, and fear of negative assessment among tested students.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a heterogeneous clinical course, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based phenotyping has increasingly been utilized to elucidate this variability. The literature recognizes four predominant MRI phenotypes: typical, hippocampal-sparing, limbic-predominant, and minimal-atrophy. However, the compatibility of various MRI phenotyping methods remains insufficiently defined. This study aimed to assess the concordance between MRI phenotyping methods within a Serbian cohort consisting of 40 subjects. Four MRI phenotyping approaches were employed: scale-based, adjusted scale-based, volume-based, and thickness-based. The scale-based method exhibited moderate agreement with the adjusted scale-based approach and high concordance with volumetric methods. In contrast, the relationship between scale- and thickness-based phenotyping was less clear. The lack of significant agreement with demographic variables, along with the observed differences across clinical dementia rating (CDR) domains, further underscored the clinical heterogeneity among phenotypes. Overall, these findings suggest that visual scale-based MRI phenotyping may serve as a practical approach in resource-limited clinical settings where advanced methods are unavailable. However, the results must be interpreted with caution and require validation in larger independent cohorts. Further research is necessary to clarify the relationship between scale- and thickness-based phenotyping across different disease stages and to investigate discrepancies in demographic, apolipoprotein E (APOE)-related, and clinical phenotype patterns in this Serbian sample compared to other populations.

Background and objectives: Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder with autosomal dominant forms most often linked to MAPT, GRN, and C9orf72. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of pathogenic variants in these genes in a hospital-based cohort of FTD patients assessed at a tertiary referral center in southeastern Serbia. Methods: We studied 58 consecutive patients with FTD spectrum syndromes evaluated at a tertiary referral center. All underwent standardized neurological, neuropsychological, and imaging assessments, and family history was recorded. Genetic testing included validated assays for C9orf72 repeat expansions and next-generation sequencing of MAPT and GRN. Results: Women comprised 53.45% of the cohort. The mean age was 67.88 years, with mean onset at 61.70 years. Behavioral variant FTD predominated (75.87%), while language forms were less frequent. Positive family history was present in 16 patients (27.59%). Pathogenic variants were identified in three individuals (5.17%): two unrelated carriers of the intronic MAPT mutation c.1920+16C>T and one patient with a C9orf72 expansion. No GRN variants were detected. Mutation frequency was 18.75% in familial cases, while none were found among sporadic patients (p = 0.018). Four of nine relatives were asymptomatic MAPT mutation carriers. Conclusions: This first genetic study of FTD in southeastern Serbia revealed a lower mutation frequency than in Northern and Western Europe, but similar to cohorts from Southeastern Europe. The detection of MAPT c.1920+16C>T in two unrelated families extends the geographic range of this splice-site variant and underscores the importance of systematic genetic testing and larger collaborative studies in the Balkans.

Introduction: Different types of tests present a great part of the academic life, and the tests themselves are extremely stressful situations for most students. The question of strategies used for coping with anxiety in testing situations is raised by the anxiety experienced by students and the levels of their self-esteem during tests. Aim of the paper: The aim of the paper is to take into consideration language anxiety, self-esteem and social and demographic variables as predictors of active use of strategies for coping with the testing situation. Material and methodology: This research included 338 students from five faculties/colleges, with an average age of 21.82±2.561, who were administered the following scales: Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale, the Coping with the Testing Situation Scale and Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale. Results: The Subscale for Language Anxiety during Testing has the highest reversed predictive value (beta=-0.43, p<0.001) of coping strategies for the testing situation; older respondents have less expressed ability of coping with the testing (beta=-0.23, p<0.001), and the higher the level of fear from negative evaluation (beta=0.21, p<0.001), the more the respondents are coping with the testing situation. Conclusion: The higher the testing anxiety, the less will the students use coping strategies, and the older students cope less with stressful testing situations, but the greater the presence of a more expressed fear of inefficiency, the more will the respondents cope with the testing situation through various strategies.