A percolation model with nucleation and object growth is studied by Monte Carlo simulations on a triangular lattice with finite-size impurities. The growing objects are needle-like objects and self-avoiding random walk chains. Results are obtained for three different shapes of impurities covering three lattice sites—needle-like, angled and triangular. In each run through the system, the lattice is initially randomly occupied by impurities of a specified shape at a given concentration ρ imp . Then, the seeds for the object growth are randomly distributed at a given concentration ρ. The percolation and jamming properties of the growing objects are compared for the three different impurity shapes. For all the impurity shapes, the percolation thresholds θ p ∗ have lower values in the growing needle-like objects than in the growing self-avoiding random walk chains. In the presence of needle-like and angled impurities, the percolation threshold increases with the impurity concentration for a fixed seed density. The percolation thresholds have the highest values in the needle-like impurities, and somewhat lower values in the angled impurities. On the other hand, in the presence of the triangular impurities, the percolation threshold decreases with the concentration of impurities.

The World Health Organization (WHO) released guidelines for physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior, and sleep for children under 5 years of age in 2019, but there are no reports on the adherence to the guidelines in southeastern Europe. This study aimed to: (i) determine the proportion of preschool children (aged 3-5 years) who met the WHO guidelines and examine the feasibility of the proposed protocol for the SUNRISE study in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), and (ii) define sex-, and urban/rural-living-specifics in movement-behaviors, anthropometrics, gross-motor-skills, fine-motor- skills, and cognitive-skills. The sample comprised 115 preschool children (63 girls and 52 boys), residing in urban (n = 66) and rural areas (n = 49) from B&H. Participants were tested on movement behaviors (PA, sleep time, screen time) by accelerometry and comprehensive questionnaires. Body height, weight, body mass index, executive function, fine-, and gross-motor skill, and cognitive function were also measured. The results showed that PA-, sleep duration-, and screen time guidelines were met by 64%, 74% and 53% of children, respectively, while only 23% of the children met all three guidelines on movement behaviors. Boys exhibited higher PA than girls, but no differences in gross- and fine motor skills and cognitive functioning were recorded between the sexes. Children living in urban and rural environments did not differ in any of the studied variables. Results evidenced preschool children from B&H being in line with other samples globally about study variables. Although PA was higher in boys than in girls it was not translated to differences in motor skills. Further studies on larger samples and other environments are warranted.

This study examines the relationships between societal cultures and preferred leadership behaviors across seven Slavic nations: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, North Macedonia, Poland, Russia (in two regions), and Serbia. The results depict variations in the associations between cultural dimensions and leadership behaviors within the Slavic context, revealing both consistent patterns and intriguing differences across countries, underscoring their cultural diversity. The obtained results contribute to the field of cross-cultural leadership and provide deeper insights into leadership dynamics within Central and Eastern European countries.

This study explores relationships between societal culture value dimensions and preferred leader behavior in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH). It is one of the first studies that provide an overview of the dimension of Monumentalism in BIH and bring together all seven cultural dimensions, thus contributing to their overall understanding. Data in two observed regions (region Bosnia, region Herzegovina) have not yielded significant differences in preferred leader behavior across regions, and regarding cultural dimensions, significant differences among regions were found only for Individualism and Masculinity, implicating relatively homogenous culture in BIH. While Power Distance has no significant correlations with any of the preferred leadership behaviors, significant correlations were found for other cultural dimensions. The study’s results contribute to a deeper understanding among leaders and employees and enhance managerial effectiveness.

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by joint inflammation and destruction, leading to significant pain and disability. Adenosine deaminase (ADA) is identified as a biomarker for RA’s inflammatory process. This study aims to investigate the potential of flavonoids and phenolic acids to inhibit ADA activity (in silico) and evaluate their anti-inflammatory effects in a RA model (in vivo). Methods: The molecular docking study was conducted using YASARA Structure 19.12.14. software following the Auto Dock 4.2 protocol. A rat model with pristane-induced arthritis was used to test the anti-inflammatory effect of selected polyphenols. The consistency of the development of the rat model was evaluated through the following indicators artistic score, paw volume, and body weight. Quercetin was administered intragastrically at doses of 150 and 400 mg/kg over 15 days. The C-reactive protein (CRP) level in serum was measured with an automatic biochemical analyzer. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 29.0.2.0. Results: Molecular docking simulations showed flavonoids inhibited ADA activity with inhibition constants ranging from 0.012 mM to 0.190 mM. In the in vivo RA model, quercetin significantly reduced joint inflammation and serum CRP levels at a higher dose of 400 mg/kg. Conclusion: Quercetin shows promise as an anti-inflammatory agent for RA by targeting ADA, suggesting that flavonoid-rich plant extracts could enhance RA treatment.

Background - Organ donation and organ transplantation refer to a medical treatment approach that involves substituting a diseased or damaged organ or tissue in the human body with a healthy one. Progress in surgical techniques, immunology, and medical science has facilitated the advancement of transplant procedures. Nowadays, a wide range of organs, organ parts, and tissues can be successfully transplanted. Depending on the part of the body in question, the organs that are donated can come from a deceased donor or from a living person. Factors that influence the individual in a positive direction in terms of donating their organs have been presented in previous studies as the socio-economic status of informants, education level, being young, gender, donation to family members and social support. Aim - of this study is to synthesize qualitative and quantitative research on individuals' attitudes and decisions regarding organ donation, as well as the factors influencing these matters. Materials and Methods - A systematic search was conducted on the PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases for qualitative and quantitative literature regarding factors influencing an individual to donate their organs to other individuals. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted to generate themes and supporting subthemes. Fifteen studies were included. Results - The three main themes were: socioeconomic and cultural factors, dissatisfaction with, and mistrust of the healthcare system. Unspecified donors demonstrated a deep sense of different factors that influenced the individual to donate their organs to other individuals. Religious factors, fear and prejudices, gender differences, the influence of family members and not being treated well by healthcare professionals were only a few of the factors that were stated in the present study. Conclusion - The results of the present study show that there were many different factors that influenced an individual to decide whether to donate organs. Even though the individuals belong to different religions, come from different cultures, look at family relationships differently and have different degrees of knowledge, the opinions and factors that influence their decision regarding organ donation are the same. Healthcare should work more actively to inform and increase knowledge and consciousness about organ donation among people who are prospective donors. This can mean more information in several different languages, as well as where different religions stand on organ donation. Key words: Organ donation, transplantation, influence, factors, decision, review.

Metamaterials, synthetic materials with customized properties, have emerged as a promising field due to advancements in additive manufacturing. These materials derive unique mechanical properties from their internal lattice structures, which are often composed of multiple materials that repeat geometric patterns. While traditional inverse design approaches have shown potential, they struggle to map nonlinear material behavior to multiple possible structural configurations. This paper presents a novel framework leveraging video diffusion models, a type of generative artificial Intelligence (AI), for inverse multi-material design based on nonlinear stress-strain responses. Our approach consists of two key components: (1) a fields generator using a video diffusion model to create solution fields based on target nonlinear stress-strain responses, and (2) a structure identifier employing two UNet models to determine the corresponding multi-material 2D design. By incorporating multiple materials, plasticity, and large deformation, our innovative design method allows for enhanced control over the highly nonlinear mechanical behavior of metamaterials commonly seen in real-world applications. It offers a promising solution for generating next-generation metamaterials with finely tuned mechanical characteristics.

Time is a fundamental dimension of our perception and mental construction of reality. It enables resolving changes in our environment without a direct sensory representation of elapsed time. Therefore, the concept of time is inferential by nature, but the units of subjective time that provide meaningful segmentation of the influx of sensory input remain to be determined. In this review, we posit that events are the construal instances of time perception as they provide a reproducible and consistent segmentation of the content. In that light, we discuss the implications of this proposal by looking at “events” and their role in subjective time experience from cultural anthropological and ontogenetic perspectives, as well as their relevance for episodic memory. Furthermore, we discuss the significance of “events” for the two critical aspects of subjective time—duration and order. Because segmentation involves parsing event streams according to causal sequences, we also consider the role of causality in developing the concept of directionality of mental timelines. We offer a fresh perspective on representing past and future events before age 5 by an egocentric bi-directional timeline model before acquiring the allocentric concept of absolute time. Finally, we illustrate how the relationship between events and durations can resolve contradictory experimental results. Although “time” warrants a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach, we focus this review on “time perception”, the experience of time, without attempting to provide an all encompassing overview of the rich philosophical, physical, psychological, cognitive, linguistic, and neurophysiological context.

Non-healing or chronic wounds in extremities that lead to amputations in patients with Type II diabetes (hyperglycemia) are among the most serious and common health problems in the modern world. Over the past decade, more efficient solutions for diabetic ulcers have been developed. Nanofibers and/or composite materials capable of drug delivery, moisture control, and antibacterial effectiveness are increasingly utilized in the formulation of wound dressings, with a particular focus on the biofunctionalization of polymeric and hydrogel materials. Natural products, including plant extracts, honey, antibacterial agents, nanozymes, and metal nanoparticles, are now commonly and effectively implemented to enhance the functionality of wound dressings. Due to the complicated and dysfunctional physiological structure of the chronic wound sites in the extremities of diabetic patients, formulated nanoscaffold or hydrogel components are becoming more intricate and versatile. This study aimed to investigate the development of wound dressing materials over the years while demonstrating their progressively enhanced complexity in effectively targeting, treating, and managing chronic wounds. The mechanisms of action and bio-functionality of wound dressing technologies were elucidated based on findings from 290 studies conducted over the last decade. A notable observation that emerged from these studies is the evolution of wound dressing development technology, which has led to significant advancements in the operational range of smart systems. These include, but are not limited to, self-healing, self-oxygenation, and adaptable mimicry of human tissue.

The paper presents an automated method for solving traditional single side 2D jigsaw puzzles, focusing solely on shape features. Termed as semi-apictorial puzzles, our approach utilizes pictorial content solely for image segmentation, not for puzzle matching. Through enhancements in background separation, corner extraction, and feature matching, our method simplifies and accelerates puzzle reconstruction. A key contribution is the introduction of an edge matching technique that employs approximate triangles to evaluate a possible match, which notably improves computational efficiency and reduces algorithm complexity. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms existing solutions, enabling the handling of a larger puzzles within a reasonable timeframe.