ABSTRACT Background: More than three decades after the Bosnian war (1992–1995), its psychological consequences persist. While early post-war mental health outcomes have been extensively studied, little is known about the long-term psychological experiences of women who lost multiple family members. Objective: This study aimed to explore the current mental health status and lived psychological consequences of women from Srebrenica and surrounding regions who experienced multiple war-related losses. Methods: Two focus group discussions were conducted with 25 women. Audio-recorded data were transcribed, translated, and analysed using qualitative content analysis to identify central themes and subthemes. Results: Five overarching themes emerged: (1) enduring war trauma, loss, and emotional consequences; (2) justice, institutional responses, and systemic failures; (3) stigma and barriers to mental health care; (4) personal and everyday coping strategies; and (5) external support systems. Participants described persistent traumatic grief, chronic psychological distress, and ongoing somatic and emotional symptoms three decades after the conflict. Narratives revealed diverse coping strategies rooted in meaning-making, work, family, spirituality, and peer support. Institutional neglect, stigma, and limited access to mental health care were identified as major obstacles to recovery, whereas NGO-based and group-based interventions were experienced as particularly valuable. Conclusions: Thirty years after the Bosnian war, women survivors from Srebrenica and surrounding regions continue to live with profound and enduring psychological consequences of trauma and loss. Their narratives highlight the long-term nature of war-related suffering, the central role of social and institutional context, and the importance of culturally embedded, relational forms of support. These findings underscore the need for sustained, survivor-centered, and trauma-informed mental health services in post-conflict settings and contribute to a deeper understanding of long-term female survivor consequences following mass violence.

Background Studies linking self-reported symptoms to circulating protein biomarkers are increasing, partly driven by the rising number of protein biomarkers being identified. Despite research advances, current reviews that synthesise these studies are typically disease-specific. A broader, diagnosis-agnostic and multidisciplinary scoping review can uncover shared biological patterns associated with symptoms across different conditions and can generate insights that advance precision health and symptom science. This scoping review protocol builds on this need for a broad approach as it aims to consolidate current knowledge on self-reported symptom and circulating protein biomarker associations, identify potential patterns, and provide relevant insights for clinical practice and future research. Methods The protocol is aligned with the PRISMA and JBI guidelines for scoping reviews. The search strategy includes original peer-reviewed journal research articles examining associations between self-reported symptoms and protein biomarkers in blood plasma or serum. Searches will be conducted from PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, and Web of Science databases. A preliminary search retrieved more than 30,000 articles, prompting a pilot test of the Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted review screening tool ASReview. The pilot demonstrated time savings, refined methodological decisions, and confirmed the feasibility of proceeding with the review. Therefore, screening will be conducted using ASReview, with a total of five reviewers involved in the process. Data extraction will focus on single self-reported symptoms and circulating protein biomarker pairs that have a reported association. Analysis will involve counting and mapping these associations to identify potential patterns. The protocol was registered with the Open Science Framework (OSF) https://osf.io/bku3f. Discussion This protocol provides a structured and transparent approach for conducting a large-scale scoping review. By adhering to established guidelines, the protocol provides a more comprehensive, standardised, exact, and reproducible accumulation of knowledge, while acknowledging potential limitations. The expected results can contribute to summarise the current understanding of associations between self-reported symptoms and circulating protein biomarkers. This fosters the integration of symptom science and the omics field, specifically proteomics, to advance precision health.

The application of sewage sludge to agricultural soils is increasingly considered a sustainable option for waste disposal, nutrient recycling, and soil fertility improvement. However, sewage sludge may also introduce potentially toxic elements (PTEs), particularly lead (Pb), into soil systems, where their environmental risk depends largely on chemical speciation rather than total concentration alone. Lead in sewage sludge-amended soils poses a potential threat to food sustainability through crop uptake and subsequent entry into the human food chain. This study investigated the effects of incubation time and soil moisture on Pb fractionation in sewage sludge–amended soil under controlled experimental conditions. The sandy loam soil, amended with untreated sewage sludge at rates of 10 and 15 g kg⁻¹ soil, was incubated for 16 weeks under two moisture conditions (50% and 70% saturation percentage). Soil samples were collected after 2, 4, 8, and 16 weeks and subjected to sequential extraction to determine exchangeable (F1), carbonate-bound (F2), Fe–Mn oxide-bound (F3), organic-bound (F4), and residual (F5) Pb fractions. The application of sewage sludge significantly increased total Pb concentration compared with the unamended control, with higher application rates showing higher levels of Pb accumulation. Across all treatments, Pb was predominantly associated with the F5, followed by F3 and F4. With increasing incubation time, Pb was progressively redistributed from more labile forms, particularly the F1, into less bioavailable fractions such as F3 and F4 pools. Higher soil moisture (70%) accelerated the decline in exchangeable Pb (F1) and enhanced Pb stabilization compared with 50% moisture. In contrast, the F5 remained relatively constant throughout the incubation period. The results indicate that both ageing time and soil moisture conditions regulate Pb transformation in sludge-amended soils. Maintaining high soil moisture levels may promote the transformation of Pb into stable geochemical forms, thereby reducing its mobility and bioavailability, and further mitigating potential environmental risks.

AIM To investigate the prevalence of arterial stiffness in hypertensive patients in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to assess the effects of various antihypertensive therapies on arterial stiffness. METHODS This prospective, open-label clinical study enrolled 200 patients who met predefined inclusion criteria from a total of 217 screened between 1 November 2023 and 30 April 2024. Participants were followed for six months. Thirteen distinct antihypertensive treatment combinations were evaluated. RESULTS In 200 patients, six months of antihypertensive treatment significantly reduced systolic blood pressure from 136.06 ± 15 to 130.69 ± 12 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure from 85.35±9 to 82.69±7 mmHg. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) changed only minimally, from 8.09±1.5 m/s to 8.05±1.2 m/s (p=0.354). Augmentation index (AIx) improved from 25.17% to 23.33%. The greatest reduction in PWV was observed with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors plus statins (-0.19 m/s), while the largest reduction in AIx was seen with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, diuretics, and statins (-15.64%, p<0.001). Baseline systolic blood pressure was the strongest, although weak, predictor of pulse wave velocity reduction (AUC=0.627, p=0.002). CONCLUSION The study demonstrated a high prevalence of increased arterial stiffness among hypertensive patients, with higher values associated with greater cardiovascular risk. Routine assessment of arterial stiffness, alongside standard blood pressure measurement, may improve cardiovascular risk stratification and support more effective, individualized hypertension management.

Limited training data constrains deep learning models for Auditory Attention Decoding (AAD) in hearing aids (HAs). AAD uses electroencephalogram (EEG) data to decode listener's attention, enabling real-time tracking of specific sound sources. However, achieving high AAD performance with short time windows typical in HAs (<=1s) is challenging due to the scarcity of real-world speech-evoked EEG data. To address this issue, we investigate diffusion probabilistic models (DPMs) for generating synthetic speech-evoked EEG data. DPMs learn the underlying complex data structure through a denoising process and can generate realistic samples suitable for data augmentation. We evaluate the use of synthetic EEG data for augmenting datasets in locus-of-attention (LoA) classification tasks. Our experiments demonstrate that DPMs can generate realistic EEG signals and that incorporating synthetic data significantly improves AAD performance compared to models trained solely on measured EEG data (p<0.05). These results highlight the potential of diffusion-based data augmentation to mitigate training data limitations and improve the robustness of short-window AAD models in HA applications.

Fluorescence-guided surgery improves intraoperative brain tumor visualization, but currently available agents remain unreliable for several common entities, particularly lower-grade gliomas and lesions without visible 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA)-induced fluorescence. We prospectively analyzed 69 surgically obtained tumor specimens from 61 patients with WHO grade 4 gliomas, WHO grade 2/3 gliomas, meningiomas, and brain metastases before and after ex vivo incubation in 4 µM water-soluble high-load hypericin-polyvinylpyrrolidone complex (HHL-PVP). Fluorescence lifetime and intensity were quantified using a dual-tap CMOS camera system with a hypericin-specific 575-615 nm bandpass filter. HHL-PVP incubation significantly increased both fluorescence intensity and lifetime in all tumor entities, including specimens without visible 5-ALA fluorescence. An independently derived combined lifetime/intensity regression model discriminated pre- from post-incubation measurements with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.975, sensitivity of 98.6%, and specificity of 82.6%; entity-specific areas under the curve ranged from 0.933 to 1.000. These findings support robust hypericin-associated signal detection across major brain tumor entities after ex vivo incubation and provide a rationale for future in vivo evaluation of HHL-PVP in fluorescence-guided neuro-oncological surgery.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of the production and economic results of Holstein-Friesian and Simmental cows on a modern dairy farm in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The research was conducted on a sample of 30 pregnant heifers of each breed, imported from Denmark and Austria, and kept under identical farm conditions. The analysis included age at first calving, milk production in the first lactation, revenue structure, variable costs, and gross margin. Data were obtained from the farm’s electronic production database, while descriptive statistics, a two-sample t-test, and gross margin analysis were used. The results showed that Holstein-Friesian cows achieved higher milk production, with an average daily yield of 34.52 litres compared to 28.39 litres in Simmental cows. This difference was statistically significant. Holstein-Friesian cows also achieved a higher total milk yield and higher gross margin. However, the Simmental breed generated higher additional income from the sale of male and female young cattle and culled cows, confirming the economic relevance of its dual-purpose character. Feed costs were the dominant variable cost category in both breeds. 

 Lactose is a carbohydrate only found in the milk of mammals and it is one of the most important components of milk. Upon consumption by humans, the enzyme ß- galactosidase (lactase) breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose with the help of water in the small intestine, but its activity decreases or disappears completely when growing up, and consumption of lactose in adulthood can cause indigestion. In this research, based on literature data, it is explained why certain group of people in the world can digest lactose regardless of age, and some others cannot. It is also explained which products can potentially replace milk and milk products. However, the primary goal of this paper is to show the prevalence of lactose intolerance among the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and which dairy products cause them the most problems. Most of the previously conducted research showed that the phenomenon of lactase persistence is genetically determined. It occurs in Europeans in whom the activity of ß- galactosidase is constantly maintained and the European population is able to digest large amounts of lactose regardless of age. On the basis of the conducted survey on the occurrence of milk lactose intolerance among different groups of people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it can be concluded that the number of people who are lactose intolerant is significantly low. The results show that more than half, i.e. 58 out of 100 subjects tolerate lactose well, while only 20 respondents do not tolerate lactose. The latter answered that among milk and dairy products milk causes them the greatest digestive and other disturbances due to the highest lactose content, while dairy products, primarily fermented milks such as kefir, ayran and yogurt, cause significantly fewer problems. 

The aim of this study was to characterise mandibular shape variation and asymmetry patterns in three sheep breeds from two geographical regions: Pramenka from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Akkaraman and Kangal Akkaraman from Türkiye. Thirty-four male mandibles (10 Pramenka, 12 Akkaraman, 12 Kangal Akkaraman) were analysed by landmark-based geometric morphometrics, with eleven homologous landmarks digitised on lateral photographs. Generalised Procrustes Analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA), allometric regression, and Procrustes ANOVA were performed in MorphoJ. The first three principal components explained 63.37% of total shape variation. In the PCA morphospace, Akkaraman and Kangal Akkaraman specimens overlapped almost completely, whereas Pramenka formed a clearly separated cluster. DFA confirmed significant shape differences in all pairwise comparisons, with cross-validated classification accuracy of 79.2% between the two Anatolian breeds and 100% for both Pramenka comparisons. Shape differences were most pronounced in the pars incisiva, pars molaris, corpus mandibulae, and ramus mandibulae. Centroid size explained only 2.51% of shape variation (P = 0.3467), indicating no significant allometric effect. Fluctuating asymmetry exceeded directional asymmetry for both size and shape; directional asymmetry in shape nevertheless remained statistically significant, consistent with a degree of masticatory laterality.Mandibular morphology therefore differs primarily between geographically distant breeds, while the two Anatolian breeds remain morphologically close, and the observed asymmetry patterns point to developmental instability as the principal source. These data provide morphometric reference values for future work on breed differentiation, functional adaptation, and zooarchaeological identification of ovine remains.

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. altissima var. saccharifera Alef.) is an important raw material for sugar production and is widely used in human nutrition. The use of sugar beet in pekmez production is not widely distributed on a global scale and is generally limited to specific geographical and agroecological regions, including Central Bosnia and Herzegovina. In this region, the production of sugar beet pekmez is based on traditional methods, and data regarding its production and quality remain scarce. The objective of this study was to evaluate the technological characteristics of sugar beet as a raw material, determine the nutritional and sensory properties of sugar beet pekmez, and assess the influence of agroecological growing conditions on variations in its quality. The mechanical composition, physicochemical parameters of both the raw material and pekmez, as well as the sensory properties of pekmez produced during two consecutive production seasons (S1 and S2) were investigated. Sugar beet contained 17.63°Brix soluble solids and 15.80% total sugars, while the processing recovery reached 68.76%. The pekmez yield was 4.76%. Pekmez samples produced in season S1 showed significantly higher (p˂0.05) viscosity, total phenolic content, soluble solids, total sugars, and sucrose content, as well as superior sensory quality in terms of color, taste, and consistency, whereas odor was evaluated equally for both samples. No significant differences were observed in titratable acidity and directly reducing sugar content between the two seasons. The obtained data represent the first step toward standardizing sugar beet pekmez production using traditional methods. 

Hereditary angioedema is a rare but potentially life-threatening disorder in which outcomes depend not only on correct diagnosis and effective medicines, but also on how health systems organize referral, laboratory confirmation, emergency pathways, reimbursement, home treatment, and long-term follow-up. Selected health systems in the Balkan Peninsula area provide a particularly informative setting for health-system comparison because neighboring countries with active hereditary angioedema expertise differ substantially in rare-disease governance, registry maturity, diagnostic infrastructure, treatment coverage, and patient-organization capacity. This Policy and Practice Review synthesizes international guidance, published regional literature, comparative country information from the Balkan Experts in Angioedema: Consensus and Ongoing Navigation (BEACON) initiative, and advocacy-informed implementation insights to assess current care delivery in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Türkiye. Across the region, the most consistent problems are prolonged diagnostic delay, unequal access to complement and genetic testing, approved-but-not-reimbursed modern therapies, hospital-only access to rescue medication, uneven use of home treatment and self-administration, incomplete emergency preparedness, and variable registry and advocacy infrastructure. Countries with stronger alignment between policy frameworks, specialist centers, registries, reimbursement pathways, and patient organizations appear better positioned to deliver guideline-concordant care, whereas fragmentation at any point in the care pathway reduces the practical value of therapeutic advances. The review argues that the main barriers to equitable hereditary angioedema care across the included health systems are now predominantly regulatory, financing, organizational, and educational rather than scientific. We therefore propose actionable recommendations for ministries and payers, specialist centers and professional societies, emergency-care systems, registry stakeholders, and patient organizations, with the goal of converting regional heterogeneity into a structured quality-improvement agenda.

Celiac disease is a chronic disorder of the digestive system caused by the intake of gluten in genetically predisposed individuals. It is characterized by a high prevalence and often delayed diagnosis due to nonspecific symptoms, such as chronic diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, and anemia, which are frequently pushed aside, or misattributed to other conditions. The disease often occurs in association with other autoimmune diseases. Having in mind a complex administrative structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are also significant differences in the healthcare system among cantons, which ultimately affects the position of patients, as well as the availability of adequate healthcare. The aim of this paper is to present celiac disease through the perspective of the condition itself, as well as the challenges and opportunities faced by patients in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton. The paper contains a theoretical overview of the disease, an analysis of the availability of gluten-free products, the offer within the hospitality sector, patients' healthcare rights, and finally, a presentation of the experience of a person living with celiac disease. The right to gluten-free foods in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton is granted to patients suffering from celiac disease (K90.0 morbus coeliacus) in the amount of 200 BAM per month, if they belong to the pediatric age group, if they are unemployed, or retired. At the same time, patients suffering from celiac disease who are employed are not entitled to gluten-free foods at the expense of the Health Insurance Institute of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton (ZZO HNK).  In the city of Mostar, four contracted pharmacies participate in the distribution of glutenfree food supplies covered by the Health Insurance Fund of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, while in the other parts of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton there are another five pharmacies which are involved in distribution (territories of Čapljina, Čitluk, Jablanica, Prozor, and Konjic). The analysis of the three retail chains with the largest number of stores demonstrated that these retailers provide a diverse range of gluten-free food products. Restaurants in Mostar do not offer a satisfactory selection on their menus, which undoubtedly makes the social life of individuals with celiac disease more difficult, especially younger, socially active individuals who travel and work. Even dishes labeled as gluten-free on their menus are recommended to be checked with staff before ordering if they are being prepared under controlled conditions, and whether there is a possibility of gluten contamination from the preparation of other meals. A significant contribution to improving the quality of life of people with celiac disease is provided by the Association of People with Celiac Disease “Gluten free” in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, through various activities and initiatives addressed to city authorities, which has resulted in noticeable improvements in the quality of life of people with celiac disease over the past two years since the association was founded. 

BACKGROUND Candida auris is a widely distributed yeast that is considered a dangerous pathogen, with reported mortality rates ranging from 30% to 60%. This yeast shows a high level of resistance to several antifungal agents commonly used to treat systemic infections. The pathogen persists on contaminated surfaces, tolerates hospital-grade disinfectants, survives desiccation and spreads easily through direct or indirect contact. It has been reported on all five continents and is increasingly prevalent in Europe. OBJECTIVE To determine the distribution and antifungal susceptibility/resistance of Candida auris isolates identified in Europe until January 2025. METHODS This systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Searches were conducted in EBSCOhost, MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus and SciELO databases using the terms 'Candida auris' and 'Candidozyma auris', combined with the name of each European country. It was limited to English or Spanish articles published until 31 January 2025, excluding reviews, meta-analyses and book chapters. RESULTS Ninety-one articles reporting antifungal susceptibility were retrieved, covering 2191 clinical isolates of C. auris from 16 countries. Most isolates were from Spain (n = 886, 40.44%), Italy (n = 553, 25.24%), Greece (n = 214, 9.77%), the United Kingdom (n = 182, 8.31%) and Russia (n = 108, 4.93%), accounting for 88.68% of cases. The remaining 248 isolates (11.32%) were reported across 11 other countries. Fluconazole resistance was found in 90.51% (1555/1718), while resistance to amphotericin B and echinocandins was 13.17% (223/1693) and 4.57% (76/1693), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Candida auris has been predominantly detected in Southern Europe, where the majority of clinical isolates exhibit resistance to fluconazole. Consensus is essential for timely diagnosis, targeted treatment and infection control to prevent its spread. New therapeutic options must be explored to manage Candida auris.