The resulting shift in load and generation profiles on the low voltage (LV) network poses new risks for distribution system operators (DSOs), including issues like congestion and power quality. To address these risks, two approaches are considered: traditional grid reinforcement or flexibility services. An emerging solution for harnessing flexibility is the development of local markets. This paper is focused on defining scenarios for testing the local market, considering different network conditions (load profiles, available capacity limits in the lines), different market clearing mechanisms, and bids. The LV network under study is a real Slovenian LV network in Luče, currently featuring 9 flexible households and one community battery, as part of the X-FLEX project (Horizon 2020, grant agreement n°863927). The second part involves testing these scenarios and conducting an analysis of the results, ensuring network constraints compliance through power flow simulation (using OpenDSS), and performing a technical analysis of the market design based on these results.

Connected and autonomous vehicles can potentially increase traffic safety by using various information and communication technologies (ICT). Data collected using technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) enables better traffic safety based on specific safety indicators. Modeling these indicators implies considering traditional traffic components such as driver-vehicle-road-environment. Eventually, if expressed in a suitable aggregate manner, traffic safety indicators can be presented and displayed to drivers to increase their attention and influence them to make decisions to avoid and mitigate traffic incidents. Existing driving risk assessment models usually consider a limited set of indicators related to individual drivers and their psycho-physical abilities which are important for participation in traffic. Data collected using IoT infrastructure alongside distributed computing and cloud technologies enables an expanded set of traffic safety indicators and a better assessment of driving risk. In this study, the common driver-vehicle-road-environment traffic safety indicators were considered and extended with the same indicators collected from neighboring drivers, weather conditions, surrounding awareness, and driver behavior data. We propose a novel architectural framework to provide dynamic driving risk assessment based on data collected using IoT technologies. The architectural framework provides a foundation for efficient data transmission between multiple sources and their processing, thus enabling the prediction of personal driving risk indicators.

Background: Malignant pleural effusions (MPE) are a pathological build-up of fluid and cancer cells within the pleural space. Patients have a significantly impaired quality and quantity of life, as this condition usually indicates an advanced disease. Video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) pleurodesis is a minimally invasive and effective treatment modality for patients with MPE.Material and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 60 patients with MPE treated with VATS pleurodesis. Success rates within a one-month follow-up, the intensity of dyspnea, Karnofsky and ECOG Performance Status Scales before and after the procedure, and length of hospital stay were observed. Results: VATS pleurodesis had a high success rate at the end of a one-month follow-up. A statistically significant difference was observed regarding the intensity of dyspnea, Karnofsky, and ECOG Performance Status before and after VATS pleurodesis. The average length of hospital stay was 7.5 days for these patients.Conclusion: Video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) pleurodesis is associated with low morbidity and a high success rate and is a reliable treatment modality for patients with MPE.

The development of more complex inverter-based resources (IBRs) control is becoming essential as a result of the growing share of renewable energy sources in power systems. Given the diverse range of control schemes, grid operators are typically provided with black-box models of IBRs from various equipment manufacturers. As such, they are integrated into simulation models of the entire power system for analysis, and due to their nature, they can only be simulated in the time domain. Other system analysis approaches, like eigenvalue analysis, cannot be applied, making the comprehensive analysis of defined systems more challenging. This work introduces an approach for identification of three-phase IBR models for grid-forming and grid-following inverters using Hammerstein-Wiener models. To this end, we define a simulation framework for the identification process, and select suitable evaluation metrics for the results. Finally, we evaluate the approach on generic grid-forming and grid-following inverter models showing good identification results.

Introduction The increasing prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has created an urgent need for rapid and cost-effective methods to diagnose and monitor people at all stages of the disease. Progressive memory impairment and hippocampal atrophy are key features of the most common so-called typical variant of AD. However, studies evaluating detailed cognitive measures combined with region of interest (ROI)-based imaging markers of progression over the long term in the AD dementia (ADD) stage are rare. Method We conducted a retrospective longitudinal follow-up study in patients with mild to moderate ADD (aged 60-92 years). They underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; 3 Tesla, MPRAGE) as well as clinical and neuropsychological examination (Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease [CERAD] -Plus test battery) at baseline and at least one follow-up visit. ROI-based brain structural analysis of baseline MRIs was performed using the Computational Anatomy Toolbox (CAT) 12. Clinical dementia progression (progression index [PI]) was measured by the annual decline in the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. MRI, demographic, and neuropsychological data were included in univariate and multiple linear regression models to predict the PI. Results 104 ADD patients (age 63 to 90 years, 73% female, mean MMSE score 22.63 ± 3.77, mean follow-up 4.27 ± 2.15 years) and 32 age- and gender-matched cognitively intact controls were included. The pattern of gray matter (GM) atrophy and the cognitive profile were consistent with the amnestic/typical variant of ADD in all patients. Deficits in word list learning together with temporal lobe GM atrophy had the highest predictive value for rapid cognitive decline in the multiple linear regression model, accounting for 25.4% of the PI variance. Discussion Our results show that temporal atrophy together with deficits in the encoding of verbal material, rather than in immediate or delayed recall, is highly predictive for rapid cognitive decline in patients with mild to moderate amnestic/typical ADD. These findings point to the relevance of combining detailed cognitive and automated structural imaging analyses to predict clinical progression in patients with ADD.

Metals in red and white wines may stem from both natural and anthropogenic sources, with their concentration serving as an important parameter influencing wine consumption. The objective of this study was to determine the metal content in available wine samples from the Bosnia and Herzegovina market. Eight samples of red wine and seven white wine samples were analysed. Cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) were determined in these samples given their potential impact on wine quality and thus human health. Metal determination was conducted using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Limit of detection values were calculated using two methods for standard solution preparation, utilising distilled water and 10 % ethanol as blanks. Moreover, a human health risk assessment of trace elements present in wine samples was conducted. The concentrations of Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn in the samples were found to be below the maximum allowed limits according to the regulations set by the International Organization of Vine and Wine, as well as the national regulations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the European Union and Croatia. The content of Cd, Co, Ni, and Pb in all wine samples was below the detection limit of FAAS. The data obtained indicated that consuming 250 ml of wine samples appeared to be safe regarding the health risk associated with the potentially toxic metal intake. However, consumers should remain aware of other potential risks associated with excessive wine consumption. Regarding winemakers and the wine industry, to reduce the metal content in wine, monitoring of metal content should extend beyond just the grapes to include soil, air quality at the vineyard locations, and at different stages of the winemaking process since metal content in wine has an impact on the sensory attributes and overall quality of the wine.

Objective – This study examines the correlation between demographic characteristics (age and gender), attitudes toward sexting, and peer pressure and sexting behavior among adolescents.Materials and Methods – The current study was conducted among 359 adolescents ages 15-17 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with data collected again one year after baseline. Participants completed questionnaires on demographic data, sexting behavior, attitudes toward sexting, and peer pressure.Results – Descriptive analyses showed that although adolescents have negative attitudes toward sexting, they do participate in sexting, reporting more receiving (62.95 % –64.06 %) than sending (30.91 % – 32.31 %) and posting (8.91 % – 8.63 %) sexts. Regression analysis revealed that age, gender, attitudes toward sexting and the influence of peer pressure in the fields of risky behavior and parental relationships are significant predictors of various types of sexting. Attitudes toward sexting and peer pressure to engage in risky behavior were also a predictor of sexting behavior one year later. Conclusion – The findings highlight the importance of addressing attitudes toward sexting and peer pressure in future preventive interventions related to sexting.

Background: Bosnia and Herzegovina, with its complex constitutional and legal system, is facing many difficulties in its progress toward European Union membership. These challenges have been worsened by political instability, exacerbated by geopolitical shifts in Europe following Russian aggression on Ukraine. Legal complexities in the constitutional order of Bosnia and Herzegovina are often used to halt the country's progress and divert it from its European trajectory. This article analyses the specific instances of very unfavourable legal solutions that are hindering the EU accession process, as well as the recommendations put forth by the EU Commission aimed at removing these legal obstacles. There is an urgent need for reform of constitutional and legal rules to enable the country to effectively continue its EU accession path. The importance of the EU membership perspective for Bosnia and Herzegovina extends beyond simply joining a desirable club of prosperous countries; the reforms required during the EU accession process are needed to strengthen the efficiency of state institutions and secure lasting peace in the country and region. As such, the urgency and potential impact of these proposed legislative changes cannot be overstated. Methods: The research primarily employs a combination of analytical, normative, and comparative methods to examine the legal system and chronology of the integration process. The legal historical method is also used where appropriate. The research focuses on the content of constitutional norms, relevant legislative acts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and legislative acts of the European Union and other countries. These legislative acts are compared with EU recommendations and legislation from other EU member states to identify the discrepancies. The article provides an overview of the legal framework governing EU integrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including norms of international law, constitutional law, national legislation, and EU law that are negatively impacting the EU accession process, and offers certain recommendations for their improvement. Results and conclusions: The research has identified certain norms of constitutional and legislative origin in the legal system of Bosnia and Herzegovina that are harming the country's ability to effectively engage in the EU accession process. Through a normative approach, the article gives recommendations for their improvement, which are in line with the standards set by the institutions of the EU. Amending these problematic legal frameworks would remove their use as political tools aimed at halting the country’s progress in the EU integrations.

The creation of cadastral plans, and then different types of maps, is the procedure by which space is coded. During the creation of cadastral plans, they are topographed and different names and auxiliary text are written on them. The geological maps were also topographed during the procedure of creating geological maps. This is necessary in order for the content of the geological map to be complete. These procedures offer the user of cadastral plans and geological maps a lot of information about the terrain presented on the cadastral plans and geological maps. The first cadastral plans and geological maps of Bosnia and Herzegovina are related to the rule of the Austro Hungarian Monarchy. These cadastral plans arose as a result of the first systematic survey of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which took place after Bosnia and Herzegovina became part of the then powerful Austro Hungarian Monarchy. The survey started in 1880. and it was successfully completed in 1884. Cadastral plans created as a result of this surveys are called plans of the old survey. They were create in scales of 1: 6250, 1: 3125, 1: 1562.5 and 1: 781.25. Unfortunately, a lot of these plans were destroyed during Second World War. In the environments in which they exist, these cadastral plans are inexhaustible historical sources for many researchers. Cadastral plans of the old survey have a special significance in the historical cartography of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current cadastral plans are arising as a result of survey which realized after the Second World War, when Bosnia and Herzegovina were one of the federal units of the former Yugoslavia. Cadastral plans created on the basis of the results of a survey carried out in the aforementioned period are called plans of the new survey. They were created in scales of 1: 5000, 1: 2500, 1: 2000, 1: 1000 and 1: 500. The subject of the survey were all objects and data certained for recording in the cadastral register and land register. The survey included the madrasas that existed in Travnik: madrasa of Elči Ibrahim-paša, madrasa of Mehmed-paša Kukavica and madrasa of the Mehmed-paša Muhsinović. Madrasas on the cadastral plans of old survey is the subject of research in this paper. The madrasa of Elči Ibrahim- paša was also surveyed during the maintenance of cadastral register. The paper analyzes the depictions of the madrasas in the on the updated lithographic copies of the original cadastral plans of the old survey, which served as working originals of the cadastral plans on which the graphic part of the cadastral register was maintained.

National, subnational, and supranational entities are creating biodiversity strategy and action plans (BSAPs) to develop concrete commitments and actions to curb biodiversity loss, meet international obligations, and achieve a society in harmony with nature. In light of policymakers’ increasing recognition of genetic diversity in species and ecosystem adaptation and resilience, this article provides an overview of how BSAPs can incorporate species’ genetic diversity. We focus on three areas: setting targets; committing to actions, policies, and programs; and monitoring and reporting. Drawing from 21 recent BSAPs, we provide examples of policies, knowledge, projects, capacity building, and more. We aim to enable and inspire specific and ambitious BSAPs and have put forward 10 key suggestions mapped to the policy cycle. Together, scientists and policymakers can translate high level commitments, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, into concrete nationally relevant targets, actions and policies, and monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

More and more investments are being made in energy conversion projects from renewable energy sources (RESs), and a large number of investors are entering this sector. The focus of this study is the decision-making by the investor BD Green Energy in the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In order to choose the RES system that would realize this investment in the most efficient way, expert decision-making based on the fuzzy–rough approach and the Bonferroni mean operator was used. Determining the importance of the criteria was conducted using the fuzzy–rough SiWeC (simple weight calculation) method. The results of this method showed that all used criteria have similar importance for the investor. RES system selection was conducted using the fuzzy–rough CoCoSo (combined compromise solution) method. The results of this method showed that investing in photovoltaic (PV) energy is the best for the investor. This research provided guidance on how investors should make investment decisions in RES systems with incomplete information and uncertainty in the decision-making process.

BACKGROUND There is limited and conflicting data on the reduction of circulatory inflammatory mediators in patients with apical periodontitis (AP) following endodontic treatment. OBJECTIVE To answer the following research question: in adult healthy patients with AP [Population (P)], is there a difference before [Comparator (C)] and after various endodontic treatments (nonsurgical, surgical or retreatment) [Intervention (I)] on systemic levels of inflammatory biomarkers [Outcome (O)] in the follow-up period [Time (T)]? METHODS An electronic literature search was conducted in the databases Scopus, PubMed, Clarivate Analytics' Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Grey literature from inception to July 2024 with no language restrictions. Observational studies examining changes in serum levels of inflammatory mediators were included. Two independent reviewers selected studies, extracted data and critically appraised the included studies. Qualitative and quantitative (meta-analysis) data synthesis methods were employed. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of the included studies. RESULTS Sixteen studies met the inclusion criteria, of which six were included in the meta-analysis. These studies were published between 1992 and 2024, involving a total of 596 patients (54% females) aged between 16 and 75 years. The meta-analysis of pooled data showed a significant decrease in high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in the serum of patients with AP 6 months after treatment [2.26 ± 1.76 versus 1.28 ± 1.06 mg/L, (Z = 2.03, p = .04)] and a decrease in interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels 12 months after treatment [13.01 ± 5.95 versus 10.86 ± 3.52 pg/mL, (Z = 3.72, p < .01)]. One study was assessed as poor quality, while all others were considered high quality. DISCUSSION Despite the differences in methodologies across the included studies, it has been established that effective endodontic treatment leads to a reduction in systemic inflammatory biomarkers in the body. CONCLUSION Following effective endodontic treatment in patients with AP, the systemic levels of hs-CRP and IL-1β exhibit a significant reduction at 6 and 12 months, respectively. Further clinical studies should investigate whether effective endodontic treatment and reduced levels of investigated biomarkers may change the clinical presentation of systemic diseases. REGISTRATION PROSPERO database (CRD42024559271).

Red mud is a by-product of alumina production, which is largely stored in landfills that can endanger the environment. Red mud, or bauxite residue, is a mixture of inorganic compounds of iron, aluminum, sodium, titanium, calcium and silicon mostly, as well as a large number of rare earth elements in small quantities. Although certain methods of using red mud already exist, none of them have been widely implemented on a large scale. This paper proposes a combination of two methods for the utilization of red mud, first by carbothermic reduction and then, by leaching under high pressure in an autoclave in order to extract useful components from it with a focus on titanium. In the first part of the work, the red mud was reduced with carbon at 1600 °C in an electric arc furnace, with the aim of removing as much iron as possible using magnetic separation. After separation, the slag is leached in an autoclave at different parameters in order to obtain the highest possible yield of titanium, aiming for the formation of titanium oxysulfate and avoiding silica gel formation. A maximal leaching efficiency of titanium of 95% was reached at 150 °C using 5 mol/L sulfuric acid with 9 bar oxygen in 2 h. We found that high-pressure conditions enabled avoiding the formation of silica gel during leaching of the slag using 5 mol/L sulfuric acid, which is a big problem at atmospheric pressure. Previously silica gel formation was prevented using the dry digestion process with 12 mol/L sulfuric acid under atmospheric pressure.

In this study, the impact of glucocorticoid, betamethasone dipropionate on enzyme activity in vitro and its effects on hematological parameters in vivo was investigated. The immobilized catalase, crucial for cell oxidative stress response via hydrogen peroxide reduction, exhibited a robust electrocatalytic response, maintaining its biological activity. The in vitro inhibition kinetics of catalase, as determined by electrocatalytic methods and expressed using Lineweaver-Burke diagrams, revealed an uncompetitive type of inhibition with altered Imax and Km in the presence of a range of betamethasone dipropionate concentrations. The in vivo experiments conducted on Rattus norvegicus demonstrated significant alterations in hematological parameters following betamethasone dipropionate administration. These changes included a decrease in erythrocyte count, an increase in hemoglobin, a reduction in mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and an elevation in mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). Notably, the leukocyte counts substantially increased. The observed hematological shifts suggest an impact of betamethasone dipropionate on the hematopoietic system, reinforcing the need for cautious corticosteroid administration. The findings underline the necessity for judicious corticosteroid treatment, acknowledging both enzymatic and systemic repercussions.