Aim: To identify clinical and inflammatory factors associated with adequate haemoglobin control among patients receiving maintenance haemodialysis and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) therapy. Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study included 100 adults receiving maintenance haemodialysis. Among 80 patients receiving ESA therapy, adequate haemoglobin control was defined as haemoglobin ≥ 100 g/L and inadequate control as haemoglobin < 100 g/L at the cross-sectional assessment; 20 patients not receiving ESA therapy were described separately. Clinical characteristics and laboratory measurements, including C-reactive protein (CRP), were recorded. The erythropoietin resistance index (ERI) was calculated from weekly ESA dose, body weight, and haemoglobin concentration. Results: Eighty patients (80.0%) received ESA therapy, while 20 (20.0%) did not. Among ESA-treated patients, longer haemodialysis vintage was associated with higher odds of adequate haemoglobin control (OR = 1.02, 95% CI 1.01–1.04), whereas higher CRP was associated with lower odds (OR = 0.90, 95% CI 0.83–0.99). ERI was inversely associated with adequate control (OR = 0.004, 95% CI 0.001–0.066), although this finding is mathematically coupled to the haemoglobin-based outcome. The exploratory model was statistically significant (χ² = 45.4; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Longer haemodialysis vintage and lower CRP were associated with adequate haemoglobin control during ESA therapy. ERI findings require cautious interpretation because haemoglobin is included in the ERI denominator and was also used to define the outcome.

The excessive use of vaccines, antibiotics, and other preventive therapeutic agents in conventional broiler production has resulted in the frequent occurrence of antibiotic residues in edible tissues, posing risks to both animal and human health. These residues contribute to the global problem of antimicrobial resistance, highlighting the need for alternative approaches to poultry disease prevention. This study aimed to evaluate whether a comprehensive preventive programme encompassing biosecurity, hygiene, and an antibiotic-free prophylaxis regimen could eliminate the need for prophylactic antibiotic therapy, thereby enabling the production of broiler meat free of antibiotic residues. This approach was contrasted with the conventional production system, in which less rigorous preventive practices necessitate the prophylactic use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, ultimately resulting in detectable residues within the muscle and liver tissues of conventionally reared chickens. Ross 308 broilers were reared under field conditions. in. The control group was reared using conventional prophylactic protocols, including broad-spectrum antibiotics, vitamins, bio-stimulants, mineral supplements, and acidifiers via drinking water. The experimental group received no antibiotics; and instead were treated with hydro-soluble probiotic preparations containing vitamin C, lactose, fructose, and baker’s yeast, combined with continuous water disinfection throughout the fattening period. Microbiological analyses showed the presence of antibiotic residues in the soft tissues of conventionally reared broilers, while no residues were detected in the experimental group. Production performance indicators—mortality rate, vitality, final body weight, and overall cost—were similar to or superior to those in the antibiotic-free group, confirming that broiler meat production without antibiotics is both feasible and economically viable.

Aim: To compare changes in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), and thyrotropin receptor antibodies (TRAb) after antithyroid drugs, radioactive iodine, or total thyroidectomy in patients with Graves' disease. Methods: This retrospective comparative cohort study included 60 adults treated at the University Clinical Centre Tuzla between 2021 and 2025, with 20 patients in each treatment group. Laboratory values obtained before treatment and at the first documented follow-up were analysed. The primary analysis compared change scores among treatment groups; within-group changes and correlations were secondary analyses. Results: Baseline FT4 and TRAb differed among the treatment groups (p = 0.022 and p = 0.005, respectively). After thyroidectomy, FT3 and TRAb changed significantly (p = 0.004 and p < 0.001), whereas TSH and FT3 changed significantly within the radioactive iodine group (p = 0.014 and p = 0.027). No significant within-group changes were observed after antithyroid drug treatment. Change scores did not differ significantly among the groups for TSH, FT3, FT4, or TRAb. Changes in FT3 and FT4 were positively correlated (ρ = 0.649; p < 0.001), whereas changes in TSH were negatively correlated with FT3 and FT4. Conclusion: Selected laboratory parameters changed within the thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine groups, but change scores did not differ significantly among the three treatment groups. These comparisons should be interpreted in view of baseline imbalance, small group sizes, non-consecutive sampling, and non-standardised follow-up.

Industrial hemp ( Cannabis sativa L.) shows strong potential for phytoremediation due to its deep root system and high biomass; however, its ability to accumulate heavy metals raises concerns regarding its medicinal use. The aim of the study was to determine and compare the presence of five metals (Cd, As, Pb, Zn, and Fe) in three different plant organs/tissues and in inflorescence extracts in order to assess their suitability for food or medicinal use. Zinc was included as an essential micronutrient for comparison with toxic metal accumulation. The results demonstrate that hemp grown on contaminated soils accumulates elevated levels of cadmium and lead, primarily in the roots, while metal transfer to inflorescences and extracts remains limited. Genetic differences among breeding lines had little effect on metal uptake, indicating that cultivation for food, dietary supplement, or medicinal purposes should be restricted to uncontaminated soils in order to minimise health risks to patients and consumers.

Cornelian cherry ( Cornus mas L . ), known for its strong antioxidant and antiproliferative activity, is rich in vitamin C, polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins

Rats are opportunistic omnivores, consuming both plant- and animal-derived foods, and therefore represent a suitable animal model for investigating the potential adverse effects of heterogeneous diets on hematological and biochemical blood profiles. The study included 18 Wistar rats of both sexes, aged 1–2 months, randomly allocated into three groups of six animals each. For a period of seven weeks, Group H was fed bakery products, Group M received meat and meat products, while the control Group K was fed a conventional pelleted diet. Biochemical parameters were analyzed from peripheral blood samples collected from the experimental animals. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were identified among the groups for CREA, UREA, PHOS, Ca, TP, ALB, GLOB, ALB/GLOB, CHOL, and LIPA. No significant differences were observed for the remaining parameters. The biochemical findings indicate impaired renal function in rats from the meat-fed group, as evidenced by elevated creatinine, urea, phosphorus, and lipase levels. In addition, reduced concentrations of serum proteins, particularly albumin, were observed across all experimental groups, suggesting inadequate protein synthesis resulting from insufficient intake of essential amino acids and micronutrients required for normal liver function.

Oral cancer remains a major health issue worldwide. Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders (OPMDs) constitute a wide range of lesions and conditions found in the oral cavity with a known risk of developing into oral squamous cell carcinoma. Common OPMDs include leukoplakia, erythroplakia, oral submucous fibrosis, oral lichen planus, and proliferative verrucous leukoplakia. Timely, well-targeted biopsy, coupled with risk-adapted follow-up and multidisciplinary care is essential to reduce malignant progression and achieve optimal patient outcomes. To address the absence of a unified weighting scheme for clinical and pathological predictors of malignant transformation in OPMDs, we conducted a targeted expert survey within the COST action INTERCEPTOR Working Group 2 (clinician-researchers with formal expertise in OPMDs). History of previous head and neck cancer, OPMD type, multifocality of the lesion clinical appearance and lifestyle habits received the highest weights in the survey on clinical prognostic factors. Future research priorities include development and validation of predictive models integrating clinical, histological, and molecular variables.

Deep Learning (DL)-based channel estimation has shown high accuracy and low latency in terrestrial 5G NR, but Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) introduce Doppler and synchronization impairments that may require NTN-specific architectures. We test whether High-Efficiency Learning-based channel Estimation using dual Neural Attention (HELENA), originally designed for terrestrial channels, remains effective after NTN retraining and suitable across high-performance and power-constrained inference platforms. Its unchanged architecture is trained on paired receiver-compensated (NTN-1) and residual-impaired (NTN-2) datasets and compared with eight terrestrial-origin models trained on the same NTN data and the NTN-specific MDELAN-SISO. HELENA achieves the lowest observed SNR-averaged NMSE among the DL estimators in both conditions, including 55.8-62.7% lower linear-scale NMSE than MDELAN-SISO. All DL models degrade in NTN-2, demonstrating the challenge posed by residual Doppler and its associated impairments. On an RTX PRO 4500, HELENA achieves 0.0595 ms 99th-percentile (P99) inference latency, 88.1% below the 0.5 ms budget, with lower energy than its closest attention-based competitors. On a 10 W Jetson Orin NX, it retains a favorable accuracy-energy trade-off, but no model meets the P99 budget. Thus, HELENA needs no NTN-specific redesign for the evaluated task, while embedded tail latency remains an open challenge.

Safety, profitability, as well as energy and resource efficiency of hydropower plants require, among others, appropriate operation of hydraulic turbines, which involves reliable estimation and monitoring of water flow rate. In this work, computer simulation is used for investigation of water flow through the spiral casing of a hydraulic turbine under real operating conditions. The wall pressure at the pre-defined monitoring points in a radial plane, such as used in the Winter–Kennedy measurement method, is calculated for a range of water flow rates. The choice of the boundary-condition type downstream of the stay vanes and sensitivity to adopted turbulent-flow approach are also investigated. The numerical results agree well with the reference measurements. A relation is established between the computed monitoring pressure difference and the corresponding incoming flow rate. Having measured the static pressure at the given points, it can be used for continuous estimation of the water flow rate in the turbine under actual operating conditions.