The demographic development of Bosnia and Herzegovina is a highly relevant topic in academic, political and public discourse, particularly amid ongoing depopulation trends that align with broader demographic challenges in Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe. Negative natural population change and pronounced demographic ageing stem from post-war transitions and socio-economic conditions. While geographical, economic and social factors shape regional demographic disparities, spatial heterogeneity remains insufficiently researched. This paper analyzes local demographic trends through selected indicators and applies clustering methods to identify distinct demographic groups among municipalities and cities. The findings contribute to a better understanding of regional demographic patterns and provide a framework for comparative studies in broader European contexts.

Adipokines play an important role in immunometabolic regulation and systemic inflammation, processes profoundly disturbed in COVID-19. Leptin and adiponectin have attracted particular interest because of their opposing biological effects. However, most studies have relied on single time-point measurements, and data on serial adipokine dynamics in critically ill patients with COVID-19-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate circulating leptin and adiponectin concentrations and their temporal changes during the first week of intensive care unit (ICU) treatment. This single-center prospective observational study included 75 adults with COVID-19-associated ARDS admitted to the medical ICU (MICU). Serum leptin and adiponectin concentrations were measured on day 1 and day 7 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Clinical data, including respiratory support, vasopressor use, comorbidities, and 28-day survival, were prospectively collected. The overall 28-day mortality was 38.7%. Leptin concentrations did not significantly change between day 1 and day 7 in any subgroup. In contrast, adiponectin demonstrated significant temporal changes. Among non-survivors, adiponectin levels decreased markedly during the first week of MICU treatment (p<0.001), whereas no significant change was observed in survivors. Similar declines were observed in patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation and vasopressor therapy, while patients managed without these interventions showed increasing adiponectin concentrations. The leptin-to-adiponectin ratio showed a trend toward higher values in non-survivors but did not reach statistical significance. In COVID-19-associated ARDS patients, adiponectin demonstrated dynamic changes associated with clinical deterioration, whereas leptin remained relatively stable. These findings suggest that serial adiponectin measurements may have potential for monitoring short-term disease progression in critically ill patients and warrant confirmation in larger prospective studies.

This Thematic Issue of Acta IMEKO presents the first collection of papers originating from the IMEKO TC15 Collegium 2026, held in Prague, Czech Republic, from 10 to 12 June 2026. The Collegium was organised by the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences under the auspices of IMEKO Technical Committee 15 – Experimental Mechanics.

Achieving sustainability while considering various sociological and technological factors represents a challenging task. Through this research, it is necessary to determine the feasibility of electrifying the vehicle fleet of a local utility company and its intention to place primary emphasis on the use of clean technologies and the achievement of greater technological sustainability. The aim of the research is to identify the most suitable electric vehicle for the collection and transport of non-hazardous municipal waste by applying a multi-criteria model, as support for the transition to carbon-neutral transport. The main methodological contribution of the paper is the development of a new STENOZA (STEvic NOvarlic ZAvadskas) method for the evaluation and ranking of potential solutions. The evaluation and selection of the electric vehicle were carried out using three MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision-Making) methods: MEREC (MEthod Based on the Removal Effects of Criteria), FUCOM (FUll COnsistency Method), and STENOZA. The objective-subjective MEREC-FUCOM model was applied to determine the weights of nine influential criteria, while STENOZA was used to evaluate and rank the electric vehicles. The results indicate that EV2 is the best option, regardless of any changes in conditions, as confirmed by verification tests and additional analyses conducted in this paper.

The influence of the impact model on the dynamic behavior of a vibro-impact system with non-ideal excitation is analyzed in this paper. The system consists of a crank-slider mechanism and an oscillator, and its mathematical model is derived using Lagrange’s equations of motion. Three soft impact models (Spring-Damper, Hertz, and Brake) and one hard impact model (Newton) are considered. The system response is analyzed numerically using frequency response diagrams, phase portraits, displacement-time histories, and basins of attraction. Three response regions are identified for all four models: non-impact, impact, and multiple solution regions. The multiple solution region corresponds to excitation-parameter values for which the system response depends on the initial conditions. For all models, the non-impact regime occurs for , while the impact regime occurs for . The largest differences between the models occur in the multiple solution region. Its upper boundary is  for the Newton model,  for the Spring-Damper model, and  for the Hertz and Brake models. At lower values of the excitation control parameter, all four models predict similar dynamic responses, whereas noticeable differences emerge at higher values. These results demonstrate that impact-model selection becomes increasingly important at higher excitation levels for accurately predicting the system response and its sensitivity to initial conditions.

Lyme disease, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, may lead to persistent complications, including autonomic nervous system dysfunction. Although postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome is frequently associated with orthostatic intolerance in Lyme disease, broader autonomic impairment remains insufficiently characterized. This cross-sectional study included 324 participants: 233 patients with late-stage Lyme disease and 91 healthy controls. All participants underwent cardiovascular autonomic reflex testing, beat-to-beat heart rate variability analysis, baroreflex assessment, 24-hour Holter electrocardiography, and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Compared with controls, patients with Lyme disease demonstrated significantly higher rates of sympathetic and parasympathetic dysfunction (p<0.05). Heart rate variability spectral parameters, including very low frequency, low frequency, and high frequency components, were significantly reduced, while baroreflex sensitivity and baroreflex effectiveness index were also impaired (p<0.05). Holter monitoring additionally revealed reduced time-domain heart rate variability parameters and an elevated low-frequency/high-frequency ratio, suggesting relative sympathetic predominance in patients with Lyme disease (p<0.05). These findings support the presence of cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction in patients with late-stage Lyme disease and highlight the importance of comprehensive autonomic evaluation in this population. Keywords: Autonomic Dysfunction; Lyme disease; Heart rate variability; Neurocardiology.

Autoregressive PDE foundation models enable fast full-field forecasting but accumulate errors as predicted states are recursively reused. We introduce Event-Triggered Context Healing (ETCH), which compares forecasts with measurements from 12 cylinder-surface pressure taps. When their discrepancy exceeds a threshold, pressure-conditioned hourglass diffusion transformers reconstruct the velocity--pressure context for subsequent predictions. On 43 RealPDEBench Cylinder trajectories, ETCH reduces velocity and pressure errors from 48.05 and 63.71% to 6.29 and 7.25% for DPOT, and from 74.97 and 76.91% to 5.16 and 6.84% for Poseidon-T, using the same reconstructors and threshold. For DPOT, correcting 14.56% of windows maintains errors close to reconstructing every window and supports average real-time forecasting and correction on an A100 GPU. These results show that sparse physical feedback stabilizes long autoregressive rollouts across PDE foundation models while reducing reconstruction cost.

Introduction. This study presents a rare case of a patient with simultaneously present papillary and medullary thyroid carcinomas. Case report. A 25-year-old female patient with a simultaneous occurrence of papillary and medullary thyroid carcinoma and a positive family history of benign thyroid illness was presented. Our patient presented with non-specific symptoms, which led her to consult her family physician. The patient had undergone a complete thyroidectomy only three weeks after her first doctor’s appointment since her family physician quickly and correctly presumed thyroid disease. The patient had two operations. During the first surgery, a total thyroidectomy was performed, and 19 regional lymph nodes were removed, two of which were positive for papillary and two for medullary carcinoma. Histopathological examination revealed papillary carcinoma in the left lobe and medullary carcinoma in the right lobe of the thyroid gland. Following the aforementioned surgery, the papillary carcinoma was treated with radioactive iodine, while the medullary carcinoma was treated surgically. Given the high calcitonin levels after thyroidectomy, a several months later new surgery was performed to remove the lymph nodes of the neck (four of nine lymph nodes were positive for medullary carcinoma). RET proto-oncogene test results were negative. The patient had no known risk factors for the development of a malignant disease. Conclusion. The patient is feeling well two years after diagnosis and complete thyroidectomy, while on her regular checkups, no metastases have been found. 

Privlačnost poslodavca predstavlja sve značajniji koncept u području menadžmenta ljudskih resursa, posebno u kontekstu ekonomija temeljenih na uslugama i rastuće borbe za privlačenje i zadržavanje talentiranih zaposlenika. Ovaj rad ima za cilj teorijski i empirijski ispitati ulogu percipirane privlačnosti poslodavca u oblikovanju ključnih organizacijskih ishoda: motivacije rada, zadovoljstva poslom, organizacijske posvećenosti i namjere zaposlenika da napuste organizaciju. Korištenjem validirane EmpAt skale, istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku poduzeća iz sektora usluga u Bosni i Hercegovini. Rezultati linearnih regresija potvrđuju statistički značajan i pozitivan utjecaj privlačnosti poslodavca na motivaciju radom, zadovoljstvo zaposlenika i posvećenost zaposlenih, te negativan utjecaj na njihovu namjeru odlaska iz organizacije. Posebno su visoko ocijenjene dimenzije primjenjivosti znanja i socijalne vrijednosti, dok su ekonomski aspekti dobili nešto niže ocjene. Ovi nalazi ističu važnost nematerijalnih faktora u oblikovanju pozitivne percepcije o poslodavcu. Rad nudi doprinos razumijevanju privlačnosti poslodavca kao strateškog instrumenta za unaprjeđenje stabilnosti radne snage i organizacijske konkurentnosti, uz identifikaciju potencijalnih smjerova za buduća istraživanja.

Sanguisorba minor Scop. ssp. muricata is a wild edible plant with recognized nutritional and ethnomedicinal value. The present study aimed to characterize the phytochemical composition and biological properties of its essential oil, hydrolate, and extracts obtained from plant material collected in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The chemical composition of the essential oil and hydrolate was determined by gas chromatography—mass spectrometry (GC-MS), while the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, as well as the mineral element composition, were evaluated using spectrophotometric methods and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Antioxidant activity was assessed using DPPH radical scavenging and Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, whereas the antidiabetic potential was investigated through α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition assays. The essential oil was characterized by high levels of salicylaldehyde and lavandulol, while the hydrolate was dominated by lavandulol, salicylaldehyde, linalool, and methyl salicylate. All tested samples exhibited noticeable α-amylase inhibitory activity and pronounced α-glucosidase inhibition. The extracts also exhibited notable antioxidant activity and contained appreciable levels of biogenic elements, including Ca, K, Mg, Na, Fe, and Zn. These findings highlight this plant as a promising source of volatile and non-volatile bioactive constituents and biogenic elements, providing a basis for further investigation of its nutraceutical and phytopharmaceutical potential.

Background/Objectives: Establishing drowning as the cause of death remains one of the most challenging tasks in forensic pathology, particularly when classical autopsy findings are absent, nonspecific, or compromised by decomposition. Molecular biomarkers may provide objective adjunctive evidence in such cases. This study investigated the diagnostic utility of Aquaporin-5 (AQP5) and Surfactant Protein A2 (SP-A2) measured in renal tissue as potential biomarkers of freshwater drowning and evaluated the influence of different freshwater environments on their expression. Methods: A controlled experimental study was performed using 29 adult Wistar rats allocated to freshwater drowning groups (Boračko Lake, n = 11; Jablaničko Lake, n = 11) and non-drowning control groups subjected to mechanical asphyxia followed by one hour of postmortem immersion (n = 7). Kidney tissues were collected within a maximum of 5 min after death and analyzed for AQP5 and SP-A2 concentrations using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Group differences were evaluated using Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn’s post hoc tests, while effect sizes were estimated using Cliff’s delta. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic performance of each biomarker in distinguishing drowning from non-drowning deaths. Results: AQP5 concentrations differed significantly among groups (χ2 = 16.05, p = 0.00033), with large effect sizes observed in all pairwise comparisons. However, diagnostic performance was poor, as ROC analysis demonstrated no significant discrimination between drowning and non-drowning cases (AUC = 0.534, 95% CI: 0.314–0.754; p = 0.762). In contrast, SP-A2 showed significant intergroup differences (χ2 = 6.69, p = 0.035) and moderate diagnostic accuracy for drowning identification (AUC = 0.752, 95% CI: 0.567–0.937; p = 0.008), with a sensitivity of 77.2% and specificity of 81.8% at the optimal threshold. Notably, AQP5 expression appeared suggestive of environmental modulation, whereas SP-A2 demonstrated greater relevance to the drowning process itself. Conclusions: Renal SP-A2 showed moderate diagnostic utility as a supportive biomarker for drowning, whereas AQP5 lacked sufficient discriminatory power for cause-of-death determination. The marked variability of AQP5 across freshwater environments suggests that it reflects environmental modulation rather than drowning-specific biological responses. Although neither marker is suitable as a standalone diagnostic tool, renal SP-A2 may represent a useful adjunct in forensic drowning investigations, particularly when pulmonary tissue is unavailable or unsuitable for analysis. These findings should be considered preliminary and applicable only to freshwater drowning conditions, as saltwater drowning was not investigated in the present study. Further validation in human forensic casework and larger experimental cohorts is warranted.

Real-world evidence on concomitant chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in Bosnia and Herzegovina remains limited. We aimed to characterize treatment delivery, toxicity, and survival and identify modifiable barriers to optimal care. This retrospective single-institution cohort study included 116 consecutive patients with HNSCC receiving curative-intent definitive or adjuvant CCRT at University Hospital Mostar during 2012-2022, with follow-up through May 2025. Overall survival (OS) from diagnosis and event-free survival (EFS) from radiotherapy initiation were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier estimates and univariable Cox regression. Most patients (88.8%) presented with stage IVA-IVB disease. Radiotherapy interruptions of ≥4 days occurred in 50.9%, and 51.7% discontinued concomitant chemotherapy. Among 107 cisplatin-exposed patients, 29.0% received a cumulative dose ≥200 mg/m². Median follow-up was 85 months for OS and 78 months for EFS. Estimated 2- and 5-year OS rates were 50.9% and 32.9%, respectively; corresponding EFS rates were 45.7% and 31.0%. Both outcomes differed across stage groups (p < 0.001 for both), with exploratory univariable analyses indicating poorer outcomes in stage IVB than stage III. Acute grade ≥3 toxicity occurred in 74.1%, including one treatment-related death; late toxicity of any grade was documented in 47.4%. This cohort highlights substantial toxicity and frequent treatment-delivery modifications in routine practice. The findings identify priorities for improving treatment continuity, cisplatin delivery, proactive supportive care, renal monitoring, and multidisciplinary coordination, while survival associations remain exploratory.

The changing geopolitical landscape in Europe has numerous implications for the Western Balkan countries. The inability of Western Balkan countries to attract foreign direct investment from the European Union (EU), their primary economic partners, drives political leaders to seek alternatives, such as Russia and China. On the other hand, Russia and China are looking for ways to increase their influence in the region and challenge the dominance of Western countries, with investments serving as a key tool to that end. However, investments entail unavoidable legal consequences, such as a lack of transparency, allegations of corruption, and avoidance of local courts. Many investments either fail or are marred with doubts about their legality, and some are entangled in legal disputes. The most significant implication is the influence of these investments on countries with foreign policy affiliations and on their progress toward EU integration. The article employs legal and contextual content analysis, as well as case studies, to investigate the legal and political implications of investment contracts originating from Russia and China in countries of the Western Balkans, primarily Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). BiH, as a country with a complex legal and constitutional system and fragile peace, is in dire need of reforms, primarily those required for EU accession. Therefore, policies that reduce focus on EU integration may generate unintended consequences for reforming trajectories in the Western Balkans.

<p>Stari grad Bjelaj (Bilaj), smje&scaron;ten u blizini Bosanskog Petrovca, predstavlja kompleksan fortifikacijski sklop sa slojevima prahistorijskog, srednjovjekovnog i osmanskog graditeljskog nasljeđa. Prema postojećim podacima, bedemi su građeni od lomljenog kamena zidanog u krečnom malteru, pri čemu su danas vidljiva značajna o&scaron;tećenja nastala djelovanjem erozije i biolo&scaron;kih naslaga. Rad se bavi analizom postojećeg stanja te prijedlogom mjera sanacije bedema i kule srednjovjekovnog dijela. Planirane intervencije obuhvataju djelimičnu rekonstrukciju istočnog bedema, obnovu nedostajućih kamenih elemenata, sanaciju kruna bedema te sistematsko uklanjanje invazivne vegetacije. Predviđena je primjena tradicionalnih materijala, hidrauličnog i hidratisanog kreča te lokalnog kamena, uz privremene mjere stabilizacije. Zavr&scaron;na faza uključuje prepoznatljive dodatke u cilju osiguranja kontrolisanog pristupa i očuvanja autentičnih historijskih vrijednosti lokaliteta.</p>