Rural youth are influenced by a wide range of uncertainties regarding their personal and professional development. Rural youth and in particular rural NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Training) are especially vulnerable and face higher risks of labour market, social and economic exclusion. This paper aims to analyse the determinants of the dynamics of rural NEETs in three post-transitional countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia) compared to the EU-28 average and to Ireland as an example of an established EU member state with over 50% of its population living in rural areas that can act as a benchmark for effective policy implementation to address challenges of marginalized youth, during the 2009–2019 period. The dynamics of rural NEET status and the efficiency/adaptability of regional development policies are revealed through analysis of macro and socioeconomic factors as well as specific employment-related indicators disaggregated by gender and degree of urbanisation. The comparative analysis indicates deficiencies in regional development policies among post-transitional countries and the potential to adapt modern European practices and policies for improving the rural NEETs’ position.

Background Periapical lesions are primarily caused by infections in the root canals. The objective of this study was to assess the antibacterial effectiveness of diode laser during root canal treatment in artificial models of infected periapical lesions. Material/Methods One hundred twenty-two extracted premolar single-rooted teeth were inserted into methyl methacrylate artificial models of periapical lesions, and bacterial solutions of Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212) and Streptococcus mitis (ATCC 49456) were then applied to the models. The respective diameters of lesions in the artificial models represented 3 different subgroups based on lesion size. The laser protocol used for endodontic disinfection had a power output of 1.5 W and a wavelength of 810 nm. The impact on cell viability was evaluated by flow cytometry. Results Disinfection with laser did not differ between microorganisms (P=0.137), and laser irradiation with a longer duration had better disinfecting action for both microorganisms (P<0.001). Compared with larger lesions, smaller lesions had a higher percentage of dead cells for both microorganisms (P<0.001). The percentage of dead cells in the treatment groups was significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.001). Conclusions Laser treatment had a poor, almost negligible effect on elimination of bacterial cells in large periapical lesions. Application of a laser might serve as an adjuvant method to standard irrigation with sodium hypochlorite.

Abstract This paper deals with the story and experiences of setting up a new start-up company with the ambition to scale using a software-based product. The paper is written by researchers for researchers interested in doing the same thing. The paper concludes that it can be very beneficial for research as the startup-can be seen as a data collection machine, but to set up a start-up company, comes with unforeseen problems along the way. A few of them involves: Do not rely on rational arguments (only), when marketing your product. Expect long lead-times. Work with multiple threads and secure funding early to ensure that you can finance your startup. Finally, you need to be committed, and you have to have a strategy to manage both your research and your commercial activities.

Ephedra herb extracts are being extensively investigated in terms of their antioxidative, antimicrobial and antiproliferative properties, with phenolic components being the general carriers of these bioactivities. Here we describe a comprehensive set of analytical methods employed to determine and characterize both the antioxidative activity and the qualitative profile of phenolic acids and flavonoids present in several Ephedra species of different geographical origin. Spectrophotometric methods were used to determine the total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and antioxidative activity. Multi-development HPTLC enabled chemical fingerprinting which can be used for species differentiation. Individual spots of the thin-layer chromatogram were subjected to GC-MS with injection port derivatization for identification, which was based on both the detected mass spectra and recorded retention indices. The results were compared and complemented with GC-MS using offline derivatization.

When it comes to providing support to children with disabilities, this role is primarily taken over by the family, and above all by the parents. The research was conducted to determine which protective factors of mental health for parents of children with disabilities facilitate their parenting role. The sample consisted of 17 participants, parents of children with various disabilities who filled out an online questionnaire designed for the needs of the research. The questionnaire was intended to assess the protective factors of the mental health of parents of children with disabilities. The results showed that parents experience moderate to high levels of stress when it comes to their parental role, while they emphasize child care as the main source of stress related to the parental role. They point out social support as one of the leading sources of support, much more often relying on informal sources (family members, friends, neighbors). In addition to social support, significant protective factors include faith in God and personality traits such as patience (calmness), perseverance, strength (resilience), optimism, and hope. Destigmatization also stands out as a significant protective factor, ie the parental role is facilitated by the complete acceptance of the child by the environment. Based on the findings, guidelines and recommendations can be formulated for planning and creating a program to provide support to parents of children with disabilities. In this context, various psychosocial support programs aimed at strengthening parental competencies and protective factors that play an important role in preserving the mental health of parents of children with disabilities would be significant.

The increasing penetration of inverter-based resources (IBRs) is changing grid dynamics and challenging grid planning, operation, and protection. Particularly, the increasing integration of IBRs may drive the power grid towards weak grid conditions, where potential dynamic stability issues may become significant. Recently, it was reported that the unintended loss of solar generation occurred in Southern California over a large geographic area. One of the major reasons for this generation loss is the tripping of solar generators due to the overvoltage in a less than one cycle time frame (i.e., sub-cycle overvoltage) experienced by solar photovoltaic (PV) inverters, especially when solar PV inverters enter the momentary cessation operation mode in response to abnormal grid disturbances. In this paper, the impact of grid strength on sub-cycle dynamics resulting from momentary cessation is investigated in a power system with distributed solar PV integration. In this investigation, distributed solar PVs are modeled with detailed grid-following inverter models considering inverter switching dynamics and momentary cessation function. It is found that undesired sub-cycle overvoltage has a positive relation to grid strength at points of integration (POIs) of solar PVs. At the weak POIs, server sub-cycle overvoltage occurs not only when momentary cessation starts to cease energy injection but also when momentary cessation restarts to inject energy into the system during the restoration process. Furhtermore, the interaction between solar PVs making POIs weak exacerbates the severity of the sub-cycle overvoltage at the POIs. Thus, in the power system with high penetration of solar PVs, it is important to improve grid strength in power system planning and quickly recover grid strength in power system operation following disturbances.

Before the socio-political communities are posted, a very demanding task of defining the subject on whose name will behalf political power is implemented over a given state territory. However, the question about the subject of sovereignty should in no case be misunderstood as an issue of simply theoretical approach. The level of a state’s democracy, as well as its ability to realize internal and external sovereignty, depends entirely on fact: does the power belong to the People and whether it derives from the People. In other words, the issue of popular sovereignty is a substantial, constitutive element of modern democratic states. When we speak about contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina, the functionality of the entire state government is often hindered by the complex decision-making processes at all state levels which lead to obstruction of the entire decision-making process. Such a dysfunctional decision-making process on the state level poses a threat and disables the Bosnian plural society to respond to the modern challenges of a democratic functioning state. The legal nature of Bosnian society is determined by the existence of constituent people who have “usurped” the entire decision-making process. There is still no end in sight to the struggle that leads to an oligarchy of the ruling elites; furthermore, there is still no appropriate socio-political mechanism that will enhance the accountability of the representatives to their voters; it is still inconceivable that decisions of state authorities are effectively and consistently implemented throughout the national territory. In other words, there is still no appropriate mechanism that will enhance the principle of popular sovereignty. It is necessary to “offer” Bosnia and Herzegovina’s pluralism and its political tradition a form of democratic authority which in no way should be a cliché. Furthermore, it may not be one of the “copy-paste” models of democratic authority. Currently, citizens of B&H are completely suspended (de facto, there are only citizens of entities). In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbs are suspended, while in the Republika Srpska, Bosniacs and Croats cannot equally participate in the decision-making process. An unfinished process of implementation of the Dayton Agreement and, in particular, Annex 4 (the Constitution of B&H), whose provisions permit discrimination against the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the impossibility of the realization of the principle of equality in the exercise of universal suffrage), as well as the non-application of the Decision of the European Court of Human Rights contributes and is conducive to further segmentation of Bosnian society.

With the development of technologies, virtual interaction contributes to the stronger virtual socialization of young people. This paper aims to examine how the virtual world influences the identity of young people. In the introduction, we reviewed the studies that dealt with virtual socialization, and then we presented a brief empirical insight into today’s socialization of young people from 14 to 21 years of age. With the questionnaire, we tried to examine the “quality” of virtual socialization in the lives of young people. The tasks of our research are focused on questioning the values that young people adopt through virtual socialization, an assessment of the “image of their own” that is in the virtual world, and the compatibility of the virtual identity with the one built in the family and peer environment. Respondents expressed views that their lives matched a life that points to social networks, while they felt that their peers did not live a life that they sought to portray on social networks. The results showed that they feel more secure in online communication than in life. Also, opinions are that the values they adopt are influenced by public opinion, etc. We can conclude that educating youths about the virtual world should be in several directions: actuality, truthfulness, privacy, and freedom.

The COVID-19 pandemic, or better known as the coronavirus pandemic, brought many challenges in education, and one of them was the transition to online teaching, that is. use of information and communication technologies in teaching. Information technology is a term that describes parts (hardware) and programs (software) that allow access to download, organize, manipulate and present information electronically, and communication technology (CT) is a term that describes telecommunications equipment that can send, receive information, search and access them. This research aimed to examine the subjective experience of teachers about personal competencies in the use of information and communication technology in teaching. The population of this research consists of primary school teachers in the area of Tuzla Canton, and the total sample consists of 138 respondents. An anonymous internet survey was used, which is distributed with the help of social networks “Facebook” and a Facebook group called “Prosvjeta TK”, which brings together educators from the Tuzla Canton area. In this paper, we assume that teachers assess their information and communication competencies as positive and they consider themselves competent in their use in the teaching process. It also explores aspects of teachers’ digital competencies as essential competencies for 21st-century education. The paper will provide insight into the personal perception of teachers regarding ICT competence, which is included in the fund of previous knowledge and theoretical knowledge. The results of this research could help understand and analyze further practices, decide on further steps to build teachers’ ICT competencies in and for the future of the school.

Croatian National Theatre in Mostar is a relatively new cultural institution when compared to other theatrical institutions. Turbulent incidents of newer Bosnian and Herzegovinian history, as well as historical, political and social changes, left their marks on all levels of the city of Mostar. Therefore, the repertoire of this Theatre, since it has been founded in 1994 (and was primarily named as „War Scene“), needs to be critically analyzed not only in relation to the reality of political and national occurrences of that period but also in comparison with theatrological specificities after the World War II. This paper questions the Theatre’s repertoire under those terms from 1993 to 2005.

In this paper, the excitation function utilizing the nuclear reaction $^{\mathrm{nat}}\mathrm{V}(p,X)$ $^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ was determined. The seven investigated metallic vanadium disks were proton irradiated within an energy range of 111--954 MeV between 1995 to 1996. The experiments' cross sections were validated using two independent measurements by combining $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ spectrometry with both a low-energy germanium detector and a high-purity germanium detector. The maximum cross section was observed for energies of 145 $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}$ 1.2 and 150.2 $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}$ 1.2 MeV with values of 803 $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}$ 28 and 805 $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}$ 27 $\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{b}$, respectively. In this regard, it was demonstrated that our data were in good agreement with the former, however, unpublished results which were investigated over a similar energy range. Thus, combined with these earlier measurements, a consistent data set for the $^{\mathrm{nat}}\mathrm{V}(p,X)$ $^{44}\mathrm{Ti}$ excitation function from 111 to 1350 MeV is provided. Model calculations using Li\`ege Intranuclear Cascade (INCL)/ABLA reproduce the shape of the excitation function correctly but overpredict the absolute values by factors of 2 to 3. Some considerations regarding this already earlier observed systematic overestimation of neutron-poor residues are given. The results will trigger new approaches in code development in order to improve the predictions.

Cyclotides are plant-derived disulfide-rich peptides comprising a cyclic cystine knot, which confers remarkable stability against thermal, proteolytic, and chemical degradation. They represent an emerging class of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) ligands. In this study, utilizing a screening approach of plant extracts and pharmacological analysis we identified cyclotides from Carapichea ipecacuanha to be ligands of the κ-opioid receptor (KOR), an attractive target for developing analgesics with reduced side effects and therapeutics for multiple sclerosis (MS). This prompted us to verify whether [T20K]kalata B1, a cyclotide in clinical development for the treatment of MS, is able to modulate KOR signaling. T20K bound to and fully activated KOR in the low μM range. We then explored the ability of T20K to allosterically modulate KOR. Co-incubation of T20K with KOR ligands resulted in positive allosteric modulation in functional cAMP assays by altering either the efficacy of dynorphin A1–13 or the potency and efficacy of U50,488 (a selective KOR agonist), respectively. In addition, T20K increased the basal response upon cotreatment with U50,488. In the bioluminescence resonance energy transfer assay T20K negatively modulated the efficacy of U50,488. This study identifies cyclotides capable of modulating KOR and highlights the potential of plant-derived peptides as an opportunity to develop cyclotide-based KOR modulators.