ABSTRACT This article aimed to identify sources and transport pathways of macro- and microelements in large urbanized rivers under significant anthropogenic pressure. To achieve the objective of this study, the geochemical characteristics of the sediments of the Sava and Danube Rivers and the soils flooded by the Kolubara River were determined. The high content of Mg indicates the dominant origin of the material from loess deposits. The significantly higher contents of Cr and Ni in sediment and soil samples from the Obrenovački Zabran (OZ) than in the samples from the Veliko Ratno Ostrvo (VRO) are the result of increased anthropogenic pressure. Sediments from the VRO show increased Sn and Sb contents. The increase in the content of chalcophile elements is the highest in the sediments from the OZ and ranges from 1.8 to 2.7 times, compared to their concentrations in the Earth’s crust. The soils from OZ and the sediments from the VRO show a decrease in the content of chalcophile elements compared to the sediments from the OZ so the increase is 1.2–1.5, and 0.9–2.3 times, respectively compared to the Earth’s crust. The obtained results revealed that the yield of sedimentary material that has higher concentrations of microelements decreases already at a distance of several km.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to analyse the state and the dynamics of developmental and other aspects of investments in research and development (R&D) in the group of countries in Southeast Europe. The analysis is performed for several countries in Southeast Europe together and by individual countries. The period from 1996 to 2020 is observed in the analysis. In most countries of Southeast Europe, the allocation for R&D is relatively small. Applied research is the most represented. Significant differences can be noticed regarding the sources of financing and to the implementation of allocations for R&D. A particularly important part of this work is devoted to the analysis of the impact of the gross expenditures on R&D on economic growth. This analysis was performed on the basis of regression analysis. Several regression models were formed in which the dependent variable was gross domestic product per capita It can be concluded that the parameters of the financial condition of the observed economy have the greatest influence on the economic growth of the observed group of countries. Allocations for research and development still do not have a significant enough impact on economic growth in observed countries in Southeast Europe.

Sewage sludge, a biosolid product of wastewater processing, is an often-overlooked source of rich organic waste. Hydrothermal processing (HTP), which uses heat and pressure to convert biomass into various solid, liquid, and gaseous products, has shown promise in converting sewage sludge into new materials with potential application in biofuels, asphalt binders, and bioplastics. In this study we focus on hydrochar, the carbonaceous HTP solid phase, and investigate its use as a bio-based filler in additive manufacturing technologies. We explore the impact of HTP and subsequent thermal activation on chemical and structural properties of sewage sludge and discuss the role of atypical metallic and metalloid dopants in organic material processing. In additive manufacturing composites, although the addition of hydrochar generally decreases mechanical performance, we show that toughness and strain can be recovered with hierarchical microstructures, much like biological materials that achieve outstanding properties by architecting relatively weak building blocks.

BACKGROUND: The association between sex and outcome after endovascular thrombectomy of acute ischemic stroke is unclear. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and safety outcomes between men and women treated with endovascular thrombectomy in the late 6-to-24-hour window period. METHODS: This multicenter, retrospective observational cohort study included consecutive patients who underwent endovascular thrombectomy of anterior circulation stroke in the late window from 66 clinical sites in 10 countries from January 2014 to May 2022. The primary outcome was the 90-day ordinal modified Rankin Scale score. Secondary outcomes included 90-day functional independence (FI), return of Rankin (RoR) to prestroke baseline, FI or RoR, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, and mortality. Multivariable and inverse probability of treatment weighting methods were used. We explored the interaction of sex with baseline characteristics on the outcomes ordinal modified Rankin Scale and FI or RoR. RESULTS: Of 1932 patients, 1055 were women and 877 were men. Women were older (77 versus 69 years), had higher rates of atrial fibrillation, hypertension, and greater prestroke disability, but there was no difference in baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score. Inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis showed no difference between women and men in ordinal modified Rankin Scale (odds ratio, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.79–1.21]), FI or RoR (odds ratio, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.78–1.22]), severe disability or mortality (odds ratio, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.80–1.23]). The multivariable analysis of the above end points was concordant. There were no interactions between baseline characteristics and sex on the outcomes of ordinal modified Rankin Scale and FI or RoR. CONCLUSIONs: In late presenting patients with anterior circulation stroke treated with endovascular thrombectomy in the 6 to 24-hour window, there was no difference in clinical or safety outcomes between men and women.

This paper studies the stabilization problem of networked control systems (NCSs) with random packet dropouts caused by stochastic channels. To describe the effects of stochastic channels on the information transmission, the transmission times are assumed to be deterministic, whereas the packet transmission is assumed to be random. We first propose a stochastic scheduling protocol to model random packet dropouts, and address the properties of the proposed stochastic scheduling protocol. The proposed scheduling protocol provides a unified modelling framework for a general class of random packet dropouts due to different stochastic channels. Next, the proposed scheduling protocol is embedded into the closed-loop system, which leads to a stochastic hybrid model for NCSs with random packet dropouts. Based on this stochastic hybrid model, we follow the emulation approach to establish sufficient conditions to guarantee uniform global asymptotical stability in probability. In particular, an upper bound on the maximally allowable transmission interval is derived explicitly for all stochastic protocols satisfying Lyapunov conditions that guarantee uniform global asymptotic stability in probability. Finally, two numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the derived results.

Background Isoprenaline (ISO), a synthetic catecholamine and a β-adrenoceptor agonist, is widely used to develop an experimental model of myocardial injury (MI) in rats. The leading hypothesis for ISO-induced MI in rats is that it results from catecholamine overstimulation, oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and development of cardiomyopathy during ISO administration. Folic acid (FA) reduces oxidative stress, improves endothelial function and prevents apoptosis, thereby contributing to cardiovascular protection. This study aimed to investigate the potentially protective effect of FA pretreatment on ISO-induced MI in rats. Methods For 7 days, adult male Wistar albino rats were pretreated with 5 mg/kg/day of FA. On the sixth and seventh days, MI in rats was induced by administering 85 mg/kg/day of ISO. Prooxidant markers in plasma samples, antioxidant capacity in erythrocyte lysates, cardiac damage markers, lipid profile, electrocardiography (ECG) and histopathological analysis were evaluated. Results FA pretreatment significantly alleviated changes induced by ISO; it decreased the homocysteine and high-sensitivity troponin I level. FA moderately decreased the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels (superoxide anion radical, hydrogen peroxide and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) and improved the antioxidant activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase and reduced glutathione. ISO reduced the nitrite level and FA significantly alleviated this change. Conclusion It can be concluded that FA, as a mild antioxidant, could be an appropriate cardioprotective substance in the rat model of ISO-induced MI.

BACKGROUND: Preclinical drug testing requires in vitro and in vivo assessments that are vital for studying drug pharmacokinetics and toxicity. Distinct factors that play an important role in drug screening, such as hydrophobicity, solubility of the substance and serum protein binding can be challenging by inducing result inconsistencies. Hence, establishing accurate methods to quantify drug concentrations in cell cultures becomes pivotal for reliable and reproducible results important for in vivo dosing predictions. OBJECTIVE: This research focuses on developing an optimized analytical approach via high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine thymoquinone (TQ) levels in monolayer cell cultures. METHODS: The method’s validation adheres to the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) guideline M10, ensuring its acceptance and applicability. Using an HPLC system with a Diode Array Detector (DAD), the study fine-tuned various parameters to achieve an efficient separation of TQ. Validation covered specificity, sensitivity, matrix effects, linearity, precision, and accuracy, alongside assessing TQ stability in RPMI-1640 medium. RESULTS: The HPLC method exhibited remarkable TQ specificity, free from interfering peaks at the analyte retention. Sensitivity analysis at the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) revealed 5.68% %CV and 98.37% % mean accuracy. Matrix effect evaluation showcased accuracy within 85–115%. Linearity spanned in the concentration range of 2–10 μ M with a correlation coefficient ( r 2 ) of 0.9993. Precision and accuracy were aligned with acceptance criteria. The proposed method was found to be greener in terms of usage of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals and solvents, corrosive samples, and waste production. CONCLUSION: The developed HPLC-DAD method emerges as specific, accurate, sensitive, and reliable for TQ determination in cell cultures. It ensures robust TQ quantification, enhancing precise in vitro assessments and dependable dosing predictions for in vivo studies. Further research is advocated to investigate TQ’s stability across diverse environmental conditions.

While the topic of sustainable development has been extensively explored, there is a lack of quantitative assessment of economic sustainability in the scientific literature; moreover, the term is often interpreted with excessive attention to the environment but not socio-economic inequality. In addition, university cities are often considered the most sustainable, although the higher education system in the United States is often criticized for the inequality of access to it among different racial and other groups of the population. This paper adds to the debate about how the concepts of sustainability and economic development relate. Many researchers have noted that they come into conflict with each other because their ultimate goals are fundamentally different: a voluntary limitation of production and consumption in the interests of future generations and, conversely, the pursuit of well-being during our lives. We would like to explore the issue of economic sustainability, which, at first glance, may become a compromise between the two approaches outlined above. So, our study is devoted to exploring the ambiguous concept of economic sustainability, which can add some new knowledge to the understanding of how social, economic, and ecological factors relate to each other in the broader framework of sustainability. For this objective, we analyzed the economic sustainability of the town of Amherst, MA. The city’s top employer and core enterprise is the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with over 32,000 students and almost 2000 staff members. Based on a literature review, a hypothesis was put forward that a university city should have a high level of economic sustainability. To assess economic sustainability, the original methodology based on the US Cities Economic Sustainability Index (USCESI) was developed. It evaluates sustainability in three groups of parameters: society, economy, and ecology. The first group includes the level of racial diversity, the level of education of the population, and the access to medical services. The second group consists of the Gini coefficient by income level, the median cost of housing, and the unemployment rate. The environmental situation is assessed according to the Air Quality Index developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. For comparison, the town of Braintree, MA, was chosen. As a result of the study, the USCESI was calculated for both locations. The analysis showed that both Amherst and Braintree have a high degree of economic sustainability. However, it was revealed that proximity to a significant economic center has a more powerful positive impact on economic sustainability than the location of a large university. In our paper, we proposed a new methodology for measuring economic sustainability with a special focus on inequality as a major problem in American society. The findings provide new knowledge about university cities and debunk the myth that they represent an exception to the general logic of urban development in the United States. A similar approach, with clarification of statistical indicators and a different emphasis, can be applied to other countries where inequality may be the main threat to economic sustainability, not in terms of access to higher education but in other areas.

Microneedle-based wearable electrochemical biosensors are the new frontier in personalized health monitoring and disease diagnostic devices that provide an alternative tool to traditional blood-based invasive techniques. Advancements in micro- and nanofabrication technologies enabled the fabrication of microneedles using different biomaterials and morphological features with the aim of overcoming existing challenges and enhancing sensing performance. In this work, we report a microneedle array featuring conductive recessed microcavities for monitoring urea levels in the interstitial fluid of the skin. Microcavities are small pockets on the tip of each microneedle that can accommodate the sensing layer, provide protection from delamination during skin insertion or removal, and position the sensing layer in a deep layer of the skin to reach the interstitial fluid. The wearable urea patch has shown to be highly sensitive and selective in monitoring urea, with a sensitivity of 2.5 mV mM-1 and a linear range of 3 to 18 mM making it suitable for monitoring urea levels in healthy individuals and patients. Our ex vivo experiments have shown that recessed microcavities can protect the sensing layer from delamination during skin insertion and monitor changing urea levels in interstitial fluid. This biocompatible platform provides alternative solutions to the critical issue of maintaining the performance of the biosensor upon skin insertion and holds great potential for advancing transdermal sensor technology.

We demonstrate a real-time, converged 5G-PON through the Cooperative Transport Interface, synchronising 5G and PON-DBA upstream schedulers. This innovative approach, implemented using 5G and PON open network implementations, significantly enhances network resource allocation, reducing latency.

Digitalizacija je utjecala na brojne segmente naših života, pa i na naše medijske preferencije. U aktuelnom komunikacijskom univerzumu bilo ko prema bilo kome (eng. any to any), omogućeno nam je da sami “pakujemo svoj medijski paket” i budemo (pro)aktivni učesnik u protoku informacija u javnom prostoru i interakciji sa medijima. S ciljem propitivanja koje medije i ostale informacijsko-komunikacijske tehnologije koriste bosanskohercegovački građani, iz kojih izvora se najčešće informišu, te kakva je njihova interakcija sa medijima u digitalnom dobu, provedeno je istraživanje stavova građana Bosne i Hercegovine (N=937). Istraživanje je pokazalo da medijske publike sve više migriraju u online sferu i da se bosanskohercegovački građani najčešće informišu iz online izvora i medija. Sa druge strane, nisu baš aktivni u interakciji sa medijima, dakle, ne iskorištavaju u dovoljnoj mjeri prednosti koje im se kao recipijentima medijskih sadržaja nude u digitalnom dobu.

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is gaining traction but raises worker health concerns due to micron‐sized powders, including fine inhalable particles. This study explored particle and surface characteristics, electrochemical properties, metal release in artificial lysosomal fluid (ALF), and potential toxicity of virgin and sieved virgin Fe‐based powders, stainless steel (316L), Fe, and two tooling steels. Virgin particles ranged in size from 1 to 100 µm, while sieved particles were within the respirable size range (<5–10 µm). Surface oxide composition differed from bulk composition. The Fe powder showed low corrosion resistance and high metal release due to a lack of protective surface oxide. Sieved particles of 316L, Fe, and one tooling steel released more metals into ALF than virgin particles, with the opposite was observed for the other tooling steel. Sieved particles had no notable impact on cell viability or micronuclei formation in human bronchial epithelial cells. Inflammatory response in human macrophages was generally low, except for the Fe powder and one tooling steel, which induced increased interleukin‐8 (IL‐8/CXCL‐8) and monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 (MCP‐1/CCL‐2) secretion. This study underscores distinctions between virgin and sieved Fe‐based powders and suggests relatively low acute toxicity.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Potential utility of flat panel CT perfusion imaging (FPCT-PI) performed immediately after mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is unknown. We aimed to assess whether FPCT-PI obtained directly post-MT could provide additional potentially relevant information on tissue reperfusion status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a single-center analysis of all patients with consecutive acute stroke admitted between June 2019 and March 2021 who underwent MT and postinterventional FPCT-PI (n = 26). A core lab blinded to technical details and clinical data performed TICI grading on postinterventional DSA images and qualitatively assessed reperfusion on time-sensitive FPCT-PI maps. According to agreement between DSA and FPCT-PI, all patients were classified into 4 groups: hypoperfusion findings perfectly matched by location (group 1), hypoperfusion findings mismatched by location (group 2), complete reperfusion on DSA with hypoperfusion on FPCT-PI (group 3), and hypoperfusion on DSA with complete reperfusion on FPCT-PI (group 4). RESULTS: Detection of hypoperfusion (present/absent) concurred in 21/26 patients. Of these, reperfusion findings showed perfect agreement on location and size in 16 patients (group 1), while in 5 patients there was a mismatch by location (group 2). Of the remaining 5 patients with disagreement regarding the presence or absence of hypoperfusion, 3 were classified into group 3 and 2 into group 4. FPCT-PI findings could have avoided TICI overestimation in all false-positive operator-rated TICI 3 cases (10/26). CONCLUSIONS: FPCT-PI may provide additional clinically relevant information in a considerable proportion of patients undergoing MT. Hence, FPCT-PI may complement the evaluation of reperfusion efficacy and potentially inform decision-making in the angiography suite.