Introduction. The development of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine marked the beginning of the end of the pandemic and the understanding of the disease as something that is part of clinical practice. The aim of this study was to investigate, assess, and demonstrate the signifi cance of vaccination on the outcome of severely ill patients treated in intensive care units. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted on a sample of patients hospitalized at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases of the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo during 2022. Results. Participants who were vaccinated against COVID-19 had a lower mortality rate and a higher chance of survival compared to unvaccinated participants. Additionally, disease outcomes were signifi cantly infl uenced by oxygen saturation and platelet count at admission. Conclusion. COVID-19 vaccination signifi cantly reduced the mortality rate, with vaccinated par-ticipants having a higher chance of survival compared to unvaccinated participants.

Case summary A 1-year-old domestic shorthair queen with five neonates was referred for umbilical cord entwinement in three kittens 24 h after parturition. The owner noticed the kittens were stuck to each other 3 h before admission. Despite a conservative treatment approach, prolonged ischaemia led to dry gangrenous changes in one of the kitten’s metatarsi. Relevance and novel information This and other neonatal complications in cats are rarely reported. Primiparity is a known factor contributing to postpartum complications. Furthermore, inexperienced owners require more assistance in mitigating these challenges. Therefore, further research and collaboration among breeders, owners and veterinary professionals are imperative in order to accurately determine the prevalence of this condition in kittens and develop effective strategies to address it.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the disturbances in the concentration of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (vitamin D) in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and its correlation with airflow obstruction. Materials and methods: A prospective study included 200 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COPD in the Department of Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis and Pulmonology Polyclinic of University Clinical Hospital Mostar in the period of three years, between May 2021 and May 2024. Inclusion criteria were a stable phase of COPD, hemodynamically stable patients older than 40 years, forced vital capacities in the first second (FEV1)/forced vital capacities (FVC) <0.7, and patients with PTH, vitamin D, calcium, and phosphate measurements. Exclusion criteria were acute exacerbation of COPD in the last month; current treatment with nutritional supplements, vitamins, and statins; lack of availability of lung function data; use of systemic corticosteroids in the previous three months; chronic renal insufficiency, respiratory diseases other than COPD (asthma, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and bronchiectasis), and other diseases (cancer and parathyroid disease). Medical records about demographic data (age and gender), pulmonary function test (FVC, FEV1, FEV1%FVC, mean expiratory flow (MEF)50), body mass index (BMI), COPD assessment test (CAT), Modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) Dyspnea Scale, and serum PTH, vitamin D, calcium, and phosphate levels were obtained. Results: Patients with higher COPD stage had lower spirometry values, most significantly MEF50. The higher the COPD group (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) D), the lower vitamin D and the higher PTH levels were. Calcium and phosphate values were the same for all groups. Vitamin D and PTH levels significantly correlated with MEF50 values. The lower MEF50 level, the higher PTH levels, and lower vitamin D levels were found (P<0.05). Conclusion: Our study showed that the patients in the higher COPD group have lower vitamin D levels and higher PTH levels, indicating that they developed secondary hyperparathyroidism. The levels of vitamin D and PTH correlated the most with MEF50 values while other spirometry parameters did not significantly correlate with vitamin D and PTH levels.

This paper presents a full degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) robust control design for a nonlinear quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operating under bounded disturbances. Second-order sliding modes controllers (SOSMCs) are designed so that the quadrotor UAV can follow a 3D trajectory in the presence of model uncertainties, underactuation, as well as external disturbances that may be matched or mismatched, and vanishing or nonvanishing. The stability analysis of the closed-loop system is presented via the Lyapunov method, showing the finite-time convergence of the system trajectories to the sliding surfaces, as well as the finite-time convergence of the quadrotor position and attitude to their reference values. The high-gain adaptation (HGA) method is adopted in the SOSMC technique, called SOSMC-HGA, to alleviate the chattering phenomenon. Simulation studies in different scenarios demonstrate that the SOSMC technique exhibits superior tracking performance and robustness properties compared to concurrent control methods for tracking reference trajectories of quadrotor UAVs. The simulation results confirm that SOSMC-HGA significantly attenuates the chattering phenomenon in control signals and system states, which is an important improvement, as it increases the safety of UAVs and reduces power consumption.

The aim of this work is to study joining Al 2024-T3 alloy plates with different welding procedures. Aluminum alloy AA 2024-T351 is especially used in the aerospace industry. Aluminum plates are welded by the TIG and MIG fusion welding process, as well as by the solid-state welding process, friction stir welding (FSW), which has recently become very important in aluminum and alloy welding. For welding AA2024-T35 with MIG and TIG fusion processes, the filler material ER 4043—AlSi5 was chosen because of reduced cracking. Different methods were used to evaluate the quality of the produced joints, including macro- and microstructure evaluation, in addition to hardness and tensile tests. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the FSW sample was found to be 80% higher than that of MIG and TIG samples. The average hardness value of the weld zone of metal for the MIG- and TIG-produced AA2024-T3511 butt joints showed a significant decrease compared to the hardness of the base metal AA2024-T351 by 50%, while for FSW joints, in the nugget zone, the hardness is about 10% lower relative to the base metal AA2024-T3511.

Post-disaster scene understanding frameworks are increasingly crucial in Search And Rescue (SAR) operations. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provide an efficient means to carry out the task of scene understanding due to the higher altitudes at which they function. However, complex environments in post-disaster scenarios make it difficult for UAVs to detect humans or objects accurately. Inefficient object detection mechanisms lead to low accuracy for object detection tasks. Hence, to mitigate these issues, we propose a UAV and GAN-aided Ensemble Network (UGEN) framework for efficient ORAN-based post-disaster survivor detection. This approach deploys a Context-Conditional Generative Adversarial Network (CCGAN)-based model to remove occlusion in the images obtained from the UAVs. The UGEN framework classifies entities present in the visual scope of the UAV using a semantic segmentation framework deployed on the CCGAN-enhanced images, resulting in a pixel-level prediction of entities present in the post-disaster images. An ensemble network comprising a combination of single-stage and multi-stage detectors detects survivors present in the post-disaster scenario, thereby combining the benefits of both architectures, resulting in a reduced false negative rate and improved performance. An Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) executes data propagation between the UAV and the ground station for reduced transmission latency. The proposed model achieved a survivor detection accuracy of 96.7%.

We report a case of a 34-year-old woman diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer at 12 weeks of pregnancy. The oncology team opted for neoadjuvant chemotherapy while continuing the pregnancy. To exclude metastatic liver disease, CT was not feasible due to radiation risks, and liver MRI was avoided due to concerns about gadolinium deposition in the fetal basal ganglia.

Robots and other autonomous agents are well-positioned in the research discourse to support the care of people with challenges such as physical and/or cognitive disabilities. However, designing these robots can be complex as it involves considering a wide range of factors (e.g., individual needs, physical environment, technology capabilities, digital literacy), stakeholders (e.g., care recipients, formal and informal caregivers, technology developers), and contexts (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient care facilities, private homes). The challenges are in gaining design insights for this unique use case and translating this knowledge into actionable, generalizable guidelines for other designers. This one-day workshop seeks to bring together researchers with diverse expertise and experience across academia, healthcare, and industry, spanning perspectives from multiple disciplines, including design, robotics, and human-computer interaction, with the primary goal being a consensus on best practices for generating and operationalizing design knowledge for robotic systems for care settings.

Crna topola (Populus nigra L.) je jedna od najznačajnijih europskih vrsta drveća koja nastanjuje aluvijalna staništa uz obale velikih rijeka. U Bosni i Hercegovini postoji značajan neiskorišten zemljišni potencijal pogodan za reintrodukciju autohtonih crnih topola, kao i podizanje intenzivnih i ekstenzivnih nasada hibridnih i američkih crnih topola. Cilj ovoga istraživanja je utvrditi početak i završetak fenoloških faza listanja, kao i zimsko zadržavanje lista, što će pomoći pri selekciji pogodnih klonova autohtonih crnih topola za reintrodukciju na određenom lokalitetu i za određene mikroklimatske uvjete u svrhu očuvanja autohtonog genofonda, te klonova hibridnih topola za osnivanje plantaža u Bosni i Hercegovini. Istaživan je materijal 161 klona autohtonih crnih topola iz 26 populacija iz slivova 6 rijeka, te 11 klonova proizvodnih hibridnih topola (euro-američke ili kanadske) i američkih crnih topola. Klonovi se nalaze u klonskom arhivu u Žepču, koji je podignut 2006. godine. Promatrana je fenologija listanja i to od 14.3.- 22.4.2019. godine i to u šest fenoloških faza 0 - uspavani pupoljak, 1 – napukli pup, 2 – probijanje pupa, 3 – pup otvoren, listovi skupljeni, 4 – listovi se razdvajaju, 5 – listovi potpuno razvijeni). Zadržavanje lista praćeno je od 30.8.-4.11.2019. godine i ocjenjivano u tri kategorije: 1 - prisutni svi listovi na stablu, 2 - 50% listova je preostalo na stablu, 3 – nema preostalih listova na stablu. Efektivna duljina vegetacijske sezone definirana je kao vrijeme između pojavljivanja faze pucanja pupova (ocjena 3) i ocjena opadanja lišća 2 (tj. kada je 50% lišća ostalo na stablu). Analiza varijance pokazala je statistički značajne razlike između klonova iz različitih populacija za duljinu trajanja fenoloških faza listanja. Fenološka faza 1 (napukli pupovi) najranije se javila 14.3. a faza 5 (potpuno otvoreni listovi) najranije 8.4. Rezultati zadržavanja listova pokazuju da su 4.11. svi klonovi u klonskom arhivu odbacili list 100%. Najkraću efektivnu duljinu vegetacijskog perioda imali su klonovi populacije Bugojno (154 dana), a najdužu klonovi Populus boleana i Populus nigra var. italica te klonovi populacija Čapljina (sliv rijeke Neretve); Dobrinje, Visoko, Babina rijeka, Maglaj, Doboj (sliv rijeke Bosne); Kopači i Tegare (sliv rijeke Drine). Rezultati istraživanja su značajni za odabir klonova sa boljom prilagodbom na uvjete staništa, te obnovu i uporabu klonskog reprodukcijskog materijala crnih topola u Bosni i Hercegovini.

<p>Modern steel production cannot be imagined without manganese, because almost all steels contain<br />manganese.<br />In this paper, we present the impact of manganese on the tensile strength values of high-carbon steel.<br />This paper presents an improvement in the quality of wire rolling with control of manganese content in<br />steel and the value of C-equivalent, in industrial conditions, which is of particular importance in the<br />production of this quality of steel.<br />For the presented quality of rolled wire made of high-carbon steel, it is possible to control the C-equivalent<br />in high-carbon steel to achieve values for tensile strength in exceptionally narrow tolerances of 1000 &plusmn; 30<br />MPa.</p>

<p>Steel 17-7PH is austenitic-martensitic steel with high strength, hardness, and resistance to creep, and<br />corrosion. It is designed for aerospace components, but can also be used for other applications that require<br />high strength and corrosion resistance, as well as leaf springs for operation at temperatures up to 316 &deg;C. It<br />can be used in a solution-treated or heat-treated state to obtain a wide range of property values. This<br />paperwork shows that modification of the contents of alloying elements with a narrower interval of Cr, Ni,<br />and Al can be obtained from austenitic-martensitic steel 17-7PH which by, a subsequent heat treatment,<br />can have values of mechanical and chemical properties required for components of an automotive engine.<br />Chromium is an alphagenic alloying element that stabilizes the ferrite region, nickel is a gammagenic<br />alloying element that stabilizes austenite and gives these steels good strength and toughness, even at low<br />temperatures and aluminum increases corrosion resistance in low-carbon corrosion-resistant steels<br />Research has determined the most suitable interval of Cr, Ni, and Al, which in combination with the<br />cryogenic heat treatment RH950 at -50 &deg;C gives the mechanical and chemical properties that meet the<br />requirements for steel with standard chemical composition.</p>

U razdoblju dvije godine (2019, 2020) proučavane su fizikalne i kemijske osobine ploda dvije sorte trešnje (Isabella i Prima Giant) cijepljene na podlozi Saint Lucie 64 u agroekološkim uvjetima submediteranske Hercegovine na tri različita tipa tla na lokalitetima: Blagaj, Konjusi i Aladinići. Istraživanja su obuhvaćala analizu mase ploda i koštice, dužinu peteljke, dimenzije ploda, sadržaj ukupnih kiselina i ukupnih šećera. Rezultati su pokazali da je sorta Prima Giant u 2020. godini imala najveću prosječnu vrijednost za sve promatrane fizikalne parametre ploda (masu ploda i koštice, dužinu peteljke, širinu ploda). Sorta Isabella je u 2019. godini imala najveću prosječnu masu koštice i dužinu peteljke, dok su plodovi sorte Prima Giant imali najveću prosječnu masu, dužinu, širinu i debljinu ploda. Na osnovu dobivenih vrijednosti, sorta Prima Giant je pokazala bolje rezultate fizikalnih osobina ploda u odnosu na sortu Isabella. Sorta Isabella je imala najveću prosječnu vrijednost ukupnih šećera i kiselina.

<p>This study investigated the mechanical properties of a series of Fe-Cr-Mn (Mo)-N alloys. The chromium<br />content ranged from 16 to 18 mass%. The test alloys were produced by adding nitrided ferroalloys during<br />melting in an induction furnace. Test specimens of each alloy were prepared for mechanical testing and<br />microstructural observation. Tensile strength (TS) and elongation (EL) were determined. By increasing or<br />decreasing the content of the chromium, it can directly affected on the values of the mechanical properties<br />and the final microstructure. A series of experiments showed that increasing the chromium content by<br />1.46 mass% in the Fe-16Cr-8Mn (Mo)-N alloy led to a decrease in the TS value by 12% and in the EL value by<br />16.1%, while increasing the chromium content by 0.72 mass% in the Fe-16Cr-11Mn (Mo)-N alloy caused a<br />decrease in the TS value by 6.1% and in the EL value by 16%. The chromium content of 16 mass % in the<br />studied alloys was found to provide sufficient strength and a relatively high elongation value. The alloys<br />can also contain a higher mass fraction of chromium, but to obtain a complete austenitic structure it is<br />necessary to increase the content of manganese and nitrogen.</p>