Abstract Generation of photovoltaic power plants is growing rapidly in the last ten years in the world. One of the key factors for the construction of floating photovoltaic power plants is to provide space for their construction. This paper presents statistical indicators of installed capacities of floating photovoltaic power plants, as well as a detailed description of the components of these power plants. Approaches to construction and maintenance recommendations are described in more detail. The basic results of simulations are presented on a concrete example of a floating photovoltaic 1 MW power plant on Lake Modrac. The available areas of artificial lakes in Bosnia and Herzegovina were analysed, and it was shown that the installation of floating photovoltaic power plants on 5% of the surface of artificial lakes would provide around 10% of the total electricity consumption in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Background: To assess readiness to achieve the WHO Global Strategy targets for HPV vaccination and cervical screening and to guide capacity building, the current status of these services in 18 Eastern European and Central Asian countries, territories and entities (CTEs) was evaluated. Methods: In order to assess the current status of HPV vaccination and cervical cancer screening in these 18 CTEs, a 30 question survey tool was developed, covering: national policies, strategies and plans for cervical cancer prevention; status of cancer registration; status of HPV vaccination; and current practices for cervical cancer screening and treatment of precancerous lesions. As cervical cancer prevention comes within the mandate of the United Nations Fund for Population Development (UNFPA), the UNFPA offices in the 18 CTEs have regular contact with national experts who are directly involved in cervical cancer prevention actions and are well placed to provide the data required for this survey. Working through the UNFPA offices, the questionnaires were sent to these national experts in April 2021, with data collected from April to July 2021. All CTEs returned completed questionnaires. Results: Only Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have implemented national HPV vaccination programmes, with only the last 2 of these reaching the WHO target of 90% of girls fully vaccinated by age 15, while rates in the other 4 range from 8%-40%. Cervical screening is available in all CTEs but only Belarus and Turkmenistan have reached the WHO target of 70% of women screened once by age 35 and again by age 45, while rates elsewhere range from 2%-66%. Only Albania and Turkey follow the WHO recommendation to use a high-performance screening test, while the majority use cervical cytology as the main screening test and Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan use visual inspection. No CTEs currently operate systems to coordinate, monitor and quality assure (QA) the entire cervical screening process. Conclusions: Cervical cancer prevention services in this region are very limited. Achieving the WHO Global Strategy targets by 2030 will require substantial investments in capacity building by international development organisations.

Cervical cancer is a significant global health concern affecting young women, with over 500,000 new cases reported annually. This questionnaire-based study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of cervical cancer prevention among female students at the University of Novi Sad during the COVID-19 pandemic using the Cervical Cancer Knowledge Prevention-64 (CCKP-64) tool. The study sample consisted of 402 predominantly 20–22-year-old female students from either social or technical science faculties in urban environments. Results revealed that out of the 402 female students involved in the study, most had a good general knowledge of primary prevention of cervical cancer, with a correct answer rate ranging from 29.9 to 80.6%. On the contrary, only 63.4% of female students have heard about the vaccine against cervical cancer; 52.0% know that the vaccine exists in Serbia; and 31.8% know where to get vaccinated. Only a small proportion of students (9.7%) have encountered cervical cancer among their relatives/friends and think that the disease could affect them in the future (25.4%). Older students (>26 years) generally (p < 0.05) had better knowledge regarding distressing symptoms of cervical cancer, cytological examination and secondary prevention; however, it was also noted that a significant percentage of this age group reported not having received vaccinations (53.0%, p = 0.001). This study underscores the need for increased awareness and education about the HPV vaccine and secondary prevention among young women in Serbia. Future research should investigate knowledge and attitudes toward cervical cancer prevention in diverse populations to develop effective interventions and strategies. These findings have implications for public health policies in Serbia to promote cervical cancer prevention among young women.

OBJECTIVE Diagnosis of Chiari I malformation (CM-1) is based on measurements of the inferior extension of the cerebellar tonsils into the foramen magnum on cranial or cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Imaging may be obtained before the patient is referred to the neurosurgical specialist. The length of time raises questions about the possibility that Body Mass Index (BMI) fluctuations could affect the measurement of ectopia length. However, previous literature on BMI and CM-1 has reported conflicting findings on BMI. METHODS We conducted a retrospective chart review of 161 patients who were referred to a single neurosurgeon for CM-1 consultation. Patients with multiple recorded BMI values (n=71) were compared to see if BMI changes correlated with changes in ectopia length. In addition, we compared and tested 154 recorded ectopia lengths from the patients (one per patient) and patient BMI values with Pearson's Correlation and Welch's t-tests to determine if BMI changes either influenced or were associated with ectopia changes. RESULTS For the 71 patients with multiple BMI values, change in ectopia length ranged from -4.6-9.8 mm but was not statistically significant (r = 0.019; p = 0.88). For the 154 measured ectopia lengths, changes in BMI did not correlate with ectopia length (p > 0.05). Likewise, differences in ectopia length between patients in normal, overweight, and obese categories were not statistically significant (|tstat| < |tcrit|, p > 0.05). CONCLUSION In individual patients, we found that BMI and changes in BMI were not accompanied by changes in tonsil ectopia length.

Graphene has a large optical nonlinearity and supports electrically-tunable and long-lived plasmons. We present an experimental study of harmonic generation in graphene heterostructures, which enhance the nonlinearity and allow plasmons to mediate the non-linear response.

This aim of this study was to investigate surface gloss changes of different composite dental materials after chemical degradation or polishing. Five different composites were used (Evetric, GrandioSO, Admira Fusion, Filtek Z550, Dynamic Plus). The gloss of the tested material was measured with a glossmeter before and after chemical degradation in different acidic beverages. Statistical analysis was performed using a t-test for dependent samples, ANOVA, and a post hoc test. For comparison between groups, a level of significance was set at 0.05. Initial gloss values ranged from 51 to 93 at baseline to 32 to 81 after chemical degradation. The highest values were obtained for Dynamic Plus (93.5 GU) and GrandioSO (77.8 GU), followed by Admira Fusion (82 GU) and Filtek Z550 (70.5 GU). Evetric showed the lowest initial gloss values. After acidic exposures, the gloss measurements revealed different patterns of surface degradation. The results showed that the gloss of the samples decreased with time regardless of the treatment. The interaction between chemical-erosive beverages and the composite could lead to a decrease in the surface gloss of the composite restoration. The nanohybrid composite showed less gloss changes under acidic conditions, suggesting that it is more suitable for anterior restorations.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the deadliest neoplasm of the urinary tract, and we are still far from completely understanding ccRCC development and treatment. The renal tissue paraffin blocks (20) of patients with ccRCC were collected at the University Hospital in Split from 2019 to 2020, and tissue sections were stained with patched (PTCH), anti-smoothened (SMO) and anti-Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) antibodies. SHH was highly expressed (31.9%) in grade 1 tumour, it being higher than all other grades and the control (p < 0.001–p < 0.0001). The trend of a linear decrease in the expression of SHH was observed with the progression of the tumour grade (p < 0.0001). PTCH expression was significantly lower in grades 1 and 2 in comparison to the control (p < 0.01) and grade 4 (p < 0.0001). A significant increase in the expression of SMO was found in grade 4 compared to all other grades (p < 0.0001) and the control (p < 0.001). The strong expression of SHH was observed in carcinoma cells of the G1 stage with a diffuse staining pattern (>50% of neoplastic cells). Stroma and/or inflammatory infiltrate display no staining and no expression of SHH in G1 and G2, while mild focal staining (10–50% of neoplastic cells) was observed in G3 and G4. Patients with high PTCH and low SMO expression had significant time survival differences (p = 0.0005 and p = 0.029, respectively). Therefore, high levels of PTCH and low levels of SMO expression are important markers of better survival rates in ccRCC patients.

The present study was conducted to determine the ability of multicomponent mycotoxin detoxifying agent (MMDA) in feed to prevent the gastrointestinal absorption of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and T2-toxin supplemented via spiked maize. For comparisons, hens were fed with uncontaminated basal diet without or with addition of MMDA at 2 g/kg feed. The trial consisted of 105 laying hens (Lohmann Brown) without obvious signs of disease allocated to 7 treatment groups in 35 pens. Responses were demonstrated on laying performance and health status throughout the 42 d experimental period. The results of laying performance indicated significantly decreased egg mass with increasing mycotoxin (AFB1 and T2-toxin) levels up to the maximum tolerated dosage, however simultaneous presence of MMDA laying performance was slightly modified linearly to increasing application. Dose-dependent pathological changes in liver and kidneys and their relative weights, changes in blood parameters and reduced eggshell weights were observed in the hens fed AFB1 and T2-toxin. The pathological changes in the hens fed with diets containing AFB1 and T2-toxin without MMDA were significantly higher as compared with the control group, but eggshell stability was not affected. The contents of AFB1, T2-toxin and their metabolites in liver and kidney tissues were significantly decreased in the hens supplemented with MMDA at 2 and 3 g/kg in feed. MMDA supplementation significantly reduced the deposition of AFB1, T2-toxin and their metabolites in liver and kidneys at the maximum tolerated dosage (2 and 3 g/kg) indicating specific binding to AFB1 and T2-toxin in the digestive tract as compared to the corresponding diets without MMDA. Exposure of AFB1 and T2-toxin indicated significantly decreased egg mass with increasing mycotoxin levels up to the maximum tolerated dosage because of the significantly reduced egg production. Therefore, in this study, MMDA could reduce negative effects of feeding AFB1 and T-2 to laying hens.

Fermentation is a crucial process in the production of alcoholic beverages such as spirits, which produces a number of volatile compounds due to the metabolic activities of yeast. These volatile compounds, together with the volatile components of the raw materials and the volatile compounds produced during the distillation and aging process, play a crucial role in determining the final flavor and aroma of spirits. In this manuscript, we provide a comprehensive overview of yeast fermentation and the volatile compounds produced during alcoholic fermentation. We will establish a link between the microbiome and volatile compounds during alcoholic fermentation and describe the various factors that influence volatile compound production, including yeast strain, temperature, pH, and nutrient availability. We will also discuss the effects of these volatile compounds on the sensory properties of spirits and describe the major aroma compounds in these alcoholic beverages.

Context: Rivaroxaban is an oral direct factor Xa inhibitor reducing the risk of systemic embolism and stroke in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation. Aims: The primary objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of rivaroxaban therapy in reducing the risk of systemic embolism and stroke in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, whereas secondary objectives were to monitor therapy safety and the patients' adherence to treatment. Settings and Design: The prospective, postmarketing clinical trial was conducted on patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation with one or more risk factors, such as congestive heart failure, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus, who suffered a stroke or a transient ischemic attack. Subjects and Methods: At the baseline visit, the CHA2DS2 score was determined, and therapy was introduced. At three control visits (1, 3, and 6 months after baseline), systemic embolism, stroke, bruises, or bleeding occurrences were recorded. Furthemore, adverse events were monitored, and the Morisky score (MMAS-8) for treatment compliance was determined. Results were compared to previous studies. Results: The study included 471 patients. The incidence rate in events per 100 patient-years (95% confidence interval) was 2.6 (0.1–5.1) for systemic embolism and 4.3 (1.6–7.0) for stroke. The most common form of bleeding during rivaroxaban therapy was epistaxis. Adverse events were reported in 12 (2.7%) patients. Therapy adherence was in the range of medium adherence for the entire study period, with the average score decreasing significantly from the 1st to 6th months (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Rivaroxaban showed good efficacy and safety in reducing the risk of systemic embolism and stroke in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation including patients with comorbidities.