The aim of this study was to assess the ability of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm.) to absorb heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Co, Mn, Ni, Cr, Cd, and Pb) from different plant-based substrates and to determine the bioaccumulation factor of the aforementioned heavy metals from the substrate to the oyster mushroom basidiomes. The substrate used in this study were: maize straw, beech sawdust supplemented with wheat bran at a rate of 20%, a mixture of maize straw and spent coffee grounds in a ratio of 70:30, and a mixture of maize straw and spent coffee grounds in a ratio of 50:50. Heavy metal contents in substrate and mushroom samples were analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy using the Shimadzu AA-7000 device, while the bioaccumulation factors of oyster mushroom for each investigated heavy metal were calculated from the heavy metal content in mushrooms divided by that found in substrates. The study showed that oyster mushrooms have a high capacity to absorb Zn and Cd from the growing medium and bioaccumulation factor values for Zn and Cd determined in this study strongly support this observation. On the other hand, bioaccumulation factor values for Ni, Fe, and Mn were less than 0.3 and ranged from 0.04 to 0.05, from 0.09 to 0.12, and from 0.10 to 0.25, respectively. In general, the results of this study lead to the conclusion that substrate chemical composition strongly affects the heavy metal accumulation in oyster mushroom basidiomes. The results of this study also showed that oyster mushrooms can be considered a promising species for Cd and Zn bioremediation.

Early intervention (EI) based on behavioral science is one of the most promising treatment options for children with autism. Ever since Ivar Lovaas study from 1987, researchers are aware of the benefits of intensive early intervention in improving the outcomes of children with autism. Children who receive EI often show remarkable improvements in their social, cognitive, and adaptive skills. These interventions typically involve structured teaching methods, intensive behavioral therapies, and a variety of support services tailored to the individual needs of each child. By addressing the core symptoms of autism early in a child's development, these programs aim to foster better long-term outcomes. In this paper, we presented an overview of the main topics in the field of EI for children with autism published in major scientific journals. For this purpose, we performed a search of the Web of Science citation base and identified 91 articles published in the period 2019-2023 that had the words “early intervention” and “autism” OR “ASD” in their titles. The selected articles dealt with several interesting topics ranging from improving social communication and joint attention to topics dealing with quality of life and parent mediated EI programs. We concluded the paper with a discussion on the future directions of EI research. Despite the significant progress made, there is still much to learn about optimizing these early behavior interventions. Future research should aim to personalize intervention strategies to meet the unique needs of each child with autism and their families. Additionally, more longitudinal studies are needed to understand the long-term impacts of EI on various life outcomes.

With the birth of a child, parents are also born. Parents and children develop, grow, learn and make mistakes together. There is no manual to indicate whether parents are making mistakes in raising another being, nor is there a reward when they do something well. It is a subjective assessment of how good a parent someone is, mistakes in upbringing are often overlooked or it turns out that situations that seemed wrong and unsuccessful resulted in a positive outcome. Questioning the correctness of raising one's own child is a daily routine for parents. However, what happens when hearing parents have a hearing-impaired child? How do they adapt, with the added pressure of how to deal with the new situation and how to raise a child who will understand them and who they will fully understand? Of course, there are differences in raising a deaf child depending on the fact if parents are hearing or deaf, but both are guided by their natural instincts in order to achieve the best possible communication with their own child. According to one definition, communication is the ability to share values, beliefs and feelings. We can communicate verbally and non-verbally. Verbal communication refers to speech, and non-verbal communication refers to visual interaction. The aim of this research was to examine the hearing parents of hearing-impaired children about the challenges they face the most when it comes to communication with their own children and how they solve the issues. The research results showed that hearing parents of deaf children communicate with the child at an early age. However, with all the efforts they make while their child grows up, there is one significant part of the child’s personality that won’t develop properly due to missing verbal communication. For the same reason, there is a distance in mutual communication that cannot be overcome even with the unconditional love they provide. From all of the above, the conclusion emerges that it is necessary to work on the education of hearing parents of deaf children with adequate forms of communication.

In this study we analyzed the effects of swimming on the posture of preschool children. The sample for this study consisted of 153 preschool boys and girls children aged 4-6 years (standard deviation= 1.1 years) living in Canton Sarajevo and divided into two groups of boys and girls, with one attended swimming school (n=61) and other did not (n=92). In order to evaluate the postural status, we used a reduced Napoleon Wolanski method with eight variables for the observed body parts: assessment of head posture (HPA), assessment of shoulder posture (SPA), assessment of scapular posture (SBPA), assessment of chest posture (CPA), scoliotic posture (SCP), assessment of abdominal posture (APA), assessment of leg posture (LPA), and assessment of foot posture (FPA). The results indicated a great effect of swimming on posture. We concluded the paper with some suggestions on how to incorporate swimming programs into regular school curricula.

BACKGROUND Nakaseomyces glabratus (N. glabratus) formerly known as Candida glabrata (C. glabrata), is an endogenous opportunistic pathogen, which is generally located in the gastrointestinal tract but can spread in immunocompromised patients. N. glabratus is the second most common pathogen that causes candidemia in several countries. N. glabratus virulence factors may increase antifungal resistance and reduce the number of available treatment options. High resistance to azoles and increasing resistance to echinocandins have been previously reported in N. glabratus. OBJECTIVE To establish the distribution of N. glabratus isolates in Europe and its drug susceptibility/resistance in each country over the last 7 years. METHODS The search was performed across three databases: PubMed, Scopus and Scielo, using the MeSH terms: "Candida glabrata", "Nakaseomyces glabratus", "Europe", "resistance" and "Epidemiology" exclusively in English. All available information from January 2002 to December 2022 was included, excluding reviews, meta-analyses and book chapters. RESULTS Fifty-seven articles with information on antifungal susceptibility in Europe were retrieved and analysed with a total of 15,400 reported C. glabrata isolates. Remarkably, nations that presented the maximum number of cases during the study period included the United Kingdom (n = 7241, 47.02%), France (n = 3190, 20.71%), Spain (n = 900, 5.84%), Hungary (n = 745, 4.84%) and Italy (n = 486, 3.16%). C. glabrata isolates presented resistance to azoles [voriconazole (n = 2225, 14.45%), fluconazole (n = 1612, 10.47%), itraconazole (n = 337, 2.19%) and clotrimazole (n = 89, 0.58%)], increased resistance to echinocandins, especially to anidulafungin (n = 138, 0.89%), and high sensitivity to amphotericin B. CONCLUSION The number of candidemia cases associated with triazole-resistant N. glabratus isolates have been increasing in Europe. Therefore, echinocandins and amphotericin B can be considered optional empirical treatments; however, antifungal susceptibility testing is required to determine the best therapeutic options.

We introduce a new, non-parametric method to infer deprojected 3D mass profiles $M(r)$ of galaxy clusters from weak gravitational lensing observations. The method assumes spherical symmetry and a moderately small convergence, $\kappa \lesssim 1$. The assumption of spherical symmetry is an important restriction, which is, however, quite common in practice, for example in methods that fit lensing data to an NFW profile. Unlike other methods, our method relies on spherical symmetry only at radii larger than the radius $r$ at which the mass $M$ is inferred. That is, the method works even if there is a non-symmetric inner region. We provide an efficient implementation in Julia code that runs in a few milliseconds per galaxy cluster. We explicitly demonstrate the method by using data from KiDS DR4 to infer mass profiles for two example clusters, Abell 1835 and Abell 2744, finding results consistent with existing literature.

BACKGROUND The 2023 ACR/EULAR Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) Classification Criteria development, aiming to identify patients with high likelihood of APS for research, employed a four-phase methodology. Phase I and II resulted in 27 proposed candidate criteria, organized into laboratory and clinical domains. Here, we summarize the last stage of Phase III efforts employing a consensus-based multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) to weigh candidate criteria and identify an APS classification threshold score. METHODS We evaluated 192 unique, international real-world cases referred for "suspected APS" with a wide range of APS manifestations. Using proposed candidate criteria, subcommittee members rank-ordered 20 representative cases from highly unlikely to highly likely APS. During an in-person meeting, the subcommittee refined definitions and participated in an MCDA exercise to identify relative weights of candidate criteria. Using consensus decisions and pairwise criteria comparisons, 1000Minds™ software assigned criteria weights, and we rank ordered 192 cases by their additive scores. A consensus-based threshold score for APS classification was set. RESULTS Pre-meeting evaluation of 20 representative cases demonstrated variability in APS assessment. MCDA resolved 81 pairwise decisions; relative weights identified domain item hierarchy. After assessing 192 cases by weights and additive scores, the Steering Committee reached consensus that APS classification should require separate clinical and laboratory scores, rather than a single aggregate score, to ensure high specificity. CONCLUSION Using MCDA, candidate criteria preliminary weights were determined. Unlike other disease classification systems using a single aggregate threshold score, separate clinical and laboratory domain thresholds were incorporated into the new APS classification criteria.

Objective. The goal of this review was to determine the effectiveness of different types of monobloc and bibloc mandibular advancement device (MAD) devices in the treatment of all forms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), by reviewing the available literature. Methods. A systematic literature search was performed in PubMed, ResearchGate, NCBI and Google Scholar databases. The search included articles in English, published in the inclusive time period from 2000 to 2024. Results. A total of 13 studies were analyzed that directly compared the effectiveness of monobloc and bibloc devices. The studies were published in the period from 2000 to 2024, and included crossover and parallel randomized controlled trials, as well as cross and parallel cohort studies. Out of the 13 studies, four were classified as RCT parallel studies, six were RCT crossover studies, two cohort parallel studies, and one cohort crossover study. The duration of the studies was variable, ranging from four weeks to one year, with six studies having a so-called “washout period” between the use of monobloc and bibloc MAD devices. Conclusion. Both monobloc and bibloc devices show significant success rates in the treatment of mild to moderate OSA.

In the ongoing discourse surrounding integrating QKD networks as a service for critical infrastructures, key storage design often receives insufficient attention. Nonetheless, it bears crucial significance as it profoundly impacts the efficiency of QKD network services, thereby shaping its suitability for diverse applications. In this article, we analyze the effectiveness of key storage designs developed through practical testbeds and propose a novel key storage design to increase the effectiveness of key creation and supply. All key storage designs underwent analysis using network simulation tools, and the findings demonstrate that the novel key storage design surpasses existing approaches in terms of performance.

Secure communication makes the widespread use of telecommunication networks and services possible. With the constant progress of computing and mathematics, new cryptographic methods are being diligently developed. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a promising technology that provides an Information-Theoretically Secure (ITS) solution to the secret-key agreement problem between two remote parties. QKD networks based on trusted repeaters are built to provide service to a larger number of parties at arbitrary distances. They function as an add-on technology to traditional networks, generating, managing, distributing, and supplying ITS cryptographic keys. Since key resources are limited, integrating QKD network services into critical infrastructures necessitates effective key management. As a result, this paper provides a comprehensive review of QKD network key management approaches. They are analyzed to facilitate the identification of potential strategies and accelerate the future development of QKD networks.

This study investigates the perception of the implementation of the Farm to Table (F2T) concept on the sustainability of agritourism households in the Republic of Serbia. The main objective of the study is to determine how this concept affects the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of these households according to the participants. Data were collected through surveys of agritourism homestead owners in the regions of Vojvodina, Western Serbia, Southern Serbia, and Eastern Serbia. The research findings, obtained using quantitative (SEM) analyses, indicate that the F2T concept significantly contributes to the sustainable development of agritourism homesteads by increasing economic profitability, reducing environmental impact, and strengthening the social community. Moderators such as seasonal product availability, employee education, and the local community support have a significant impact on the effectiveness of F2T activities. The innovation of this study lies in the application of quantitative methods to analyze the specific impacts of the F2T concept on the sustainability of agritourism households, an area that has been poorly explored in the literature. The study has a number of implications, including providing empirical data that can help farmers, tourism operators, and policymakers to promote sustainable agritourism businesses.