Key Points • Fifty-two percent of patients with iMCD treated with siltuximab with/without corticosteroids achieved response.• Corticosteroids alone are not effective in iMCD symptom management.

Background: Adolescents are a susceptible population in terms of medication use. They are not only inclined to abuse illegal substances but are also prone to nonmedical medication use, which exposes them to a significant risk of various adverse drug reactions (ADR). Objective: This research aims to assess medication use among adolescents in Sarajevo Canton. Methods: This paper features information about the most frequently used medications, reasons for their use, sources of their procurement, ADR and concurrent use with other medications and/or alcohol. To obtain this data, a questionnaire with open- and close-ended questions was created. The survey was conducted online and 444 participants were included. Results: Medications were used by 90.1% of adolescents. The most commonly used medications were non-opioid analgesics, antibiotics, dietary supplements, antihistamines and benzodiazepines. Mild to moderate pain was the most frequent reason for medication use. Participants were at risk of ADR, drug-drug interactions (DDI), and drug-alcohol interactions. Conclusion: It is up to healthcare workers, especially pharmacists, to educate and guide adolescent patients on rational medication use and inform them about potential dangers following the use of these medications.

Although solid oral dosage forms present majority of commonly prescribed drugs, some patients struggle with ingesting them (Awad et al., 2021). Amongst those, a very significant group is the pediatric population. On the other side, questions concerning dosage consistency arise when it comes to liquid oral preparations, particularly for suspensions (Gupta et al., 2021). To avoid the limitations of conventional oral dosage forms, orodispersible films (ODFs) were developed as a promising, patient-tailored therapeutic alternative. After the administration, ODFs are swallowed naturally with saliva, and there is no need for additional water (Yadav et al., 2021). Furthermore, in terms of the pediatric population, the product not only has to be easy to swallow, but it also has to be visually appealing. Therefore, a lot of attention is dedicated to the visual appearance of ODFs, including their color and transparency or opacity (Zamanian et al., 2021). One of the methods used to produce ODFs is the solvent casting of polymer solution/dispersion. The aim of our study was to determine whether high shear mixer heads have an influence on the optical characteristics and disintegration time of the obtained ODFs.

Nowadays, nucleic acids are gaining much attention as leading therapeutics. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are one part of this family of promising tools that can be used in the treatment of numerous diseases. However, the application of miRNAs is limited due to their poor stability and limited cellular uptake. Here, we developed cationic nanostructured lipid carriers (cNLCs) as delivery agents for miRNA. Furthermore, we used human serum album (HSA) as a coat for the cNLCs, to see how it will influence the uptake. These nanoparticles showed favorable physicochemical properties to be used as drug delivery systems, as they successfully complexed miRNA. Therefore, our next goal is to study and understand their cellular uptake. For this purpose, we traced the uptake of the miRNA/cNLCs in two different cell lines (3T3-L1 and MCF-7 cells) under varying experimental conditions.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression in cells. However, their application in gene therapy is limited by obstacles such as poor cellular uptake and instability (Mendonça et al., 2023). To overcome these limitations, cationic nanostructured lipid carriers (cNLCs) as delivery systems for miRNAs are developed. cNLCs protect and stabilize miRNAs, and also enhance cellular uptake, which results in effective nucleic acid-based therapy. Another approach, found in literature, to enhance cellular uptake is coating particles with human serum albumin (HSA) (Liu et al., 2012). Therefore, the effect of functionalization of miRNA-cNLC complexes with HSA was investigated. The physicochemical properties of uncoated and HSA-coated complexes were compared in terms of particle size, size distribution, surface charge, topography, and cellular uptake in 3T3-L1 mouse embryonic fibroblasts and MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.

Cilj: Prikazati najčešće razloge odbijanja potencijalnih darivatelja krvi po spolu i usporediti ih između gradova Osijeka i Zagreba. Ispitanici i metode: Istraživanje je provedeno po principu retrospektivne studije tijekom 2021. godine iz baze podataka Hrvatskog zavoda za transfuzijsku medicinu u Zagrebu i Kliničkom zavodu za transfuzijsku medicinu u Osijeku. Korišten je χ2-test, dok je statistička analiza napravljena pomoću programskog sustava MedCalc (inačica 14.12.0, MedCalcSoftware) uz razinu značajnosti od P < 0,05. Rezultati: Hrvatski zavod za transfuzijsku medicinu u Zagrebu kao najčešći razlog odbijanja potencijalnih darivatelja krvi navodi sniženu koncentraciju hemoglobina zbog koje je odbijeno 7 119, od kojih 2 583 (36 %) muškarca i 4 536 (64 %) žena. Također, Klinički zavod za transfuzijsku medicinu u Osijeku odbio je najviše potencijalnih darivatelja krvi zbog snižene koncentracije hemoglobina, njih 660, od kojih 235 (36 %) muškaraca i 425 (64 %) žena. Nakon obrade podataka nema statistički značajne razlike u odbijanju potencijalnih darivatelja krvi zbog hemoglobina u Zagrebu i Osijeku uspoređujući ih po spolu (P = 0,729). Zbog krvnog tlaka odbijenih potencijalnih darivatelja krvi u Zagrebu bilo je 3 855, 2 375 (62 %) muškaraca i 1 480 (38 %) žena. Odbijenih potencijalnih darivatelja krvi zbog krvnog tlaka u Osijeku je bilo 369, 141 (38 %) muškarac i 228 (62 %) žena. Statistički značajna razlika u odbijanju potencijalnih darivatelja krvi zbog krvnog tlaka u gradovima po spolu postoji (P < 0,001). Zaključak: Najčešći razlozi odbijanja dobrovoljnih darivatelja krvi tijekom 2021. godini u Hrvatskom zavodu za transfuzijsku medicinu u Zagrebu i Kliničkom zavodu za transfuzijsku medicinu u Osijeku jesu snižena koncentracija hemoglobina te krvni tlak kod obaju spolova.

At the beginning of 2020, few people could imagine that the new coronavirus, COVID-19, would impact that many aspects of our lives and change the content, structure, and teaching methods we knew before. Many language teachers (LT) worldwide who had been effectively implementing face-to-face instruction had to make an abrupt transition to online education, something they were not trained for or had experience with. The present study aims to discover whether LT successfully delivered online instruction and whether online teaching during the first online period impacted students’ learning habits. Using a specifically designed questionnaire, students who study at several public universities from Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM), and Türkiye (TUR) were asked to evaluate their teachers’ professional adaptation and success during the first “emergency online teaching semester”, and to reflect on their learning habits during this period and the changes they personally experienced. The results of the study revealed that students in the three countries approached and evaluated their teachers’ pedagogical skills as appropriate for online teaching in the first COVID-19 period in remarkably similar ways. However, the impact on students’ learning habits is, to a certain extent, different in these countries. The findings of the study might provide relevant input to rethink the teaching profession in terms of competencies, means of instruction, and strategies for coping with processes that affect teaching. Education will not be the same in a post-pandemic world, we must use the knowledge we have gained, and the suggestions made by our students to enhance our educational systems.

Recent findings in action mechanics showing torques result from rates of variation in impulsive action motivated this more fundamental approach to estimate maximum power from wind turbines. Newton’s third law of equality of action and reaction provides a strictly causal mechanism of wind power from the deflection of wind momentum by twice its angle (θ) of incidence on rotor blades. The lateral reaction needed to conserve wind momentum provides the turning moment for the turbine rotors. This direct approach challenges the current continuum mechanism for generating power from flows of kinetic energy in wind passing through the areas swept by rotating blades. Action mechanics integrates the rates of impulsive wind action on turbine blades as torques (∫mrvdθ/dt ≡ mv2) exerted on rotor surfaces at decreasing radii. Windward torque (Tw) is estimated from rotor dimensions, the angle of wind incidence and radial action of wind impulses on the blade surfaces (also ∫mrvdθ/dt ≡ mv2). A leeward torque (Tb) for back reaction of turbine blades on air mimics drag exerted parallel to the plane of rotation of the blade. Net torque is then converted to potential power (Tw - Tb)Ω by the angular velocity (Ω) of the turbine rotors, a function of tip speed ratio to wind speed. New contributions from action mechanics for managing wind power include larger estimates of its possible magnitude by including vortical energy, much larger than the kinetic energy. Better predictions of limits to wind power can be made, by including control of optimal wind angle and blade length. An analysis of the equivalence of deflected air momentum on turbine blades or air foils for aircraft reveals that even the lifting action on air foils can be explained by the normal reaction to the momentum in an air stream, also deflected by an angle twice that (2θ) of incidence, validating application of action mechanics to airflight. A mechanism for release of vortical field energy from laminar flow of air in anticyclones is predicted in turbulent downstream wakes, possibly assisting achievement of maximum power output by wind farms. Significant heat release by downwind turbulence from vortical energy requires care for their location. Diligence demands that use of windfarms as major sources of renewable energy should minimize any environmental impacts, such as drying of landscapes.

ABSTRACT Background The aim of this study was to provide an overview of age, sex and primary renal disease (PRD) distribution among first kidney transplant recipients across Europe. Method The European Renal Association (ERA) Registry database was used to obtain data on patients aged 20 years or older receiving their first kidney transplant between 2010 and 2019 from 12 European countries. The numbers and percentages of recipients in each age, sex and PRD group were calculated by country, donor type and year. Results In total, 99 543 adults received a first kidney transplant. Overall, 23% of the recipients were 65 years or older, 36% were female, and 21% had glomerulonephritis and 15% diabetes mellitus as PRD. Compared with deceased donor kidney transplant recipients, living donor kidney transplant recipients were less often 65 years or older (13% versus 26%), more often had glomerulonephritis (25% versus 20%) and less often diabetes mellitus (8% versus 17%) as PRD. We found large international differences, which were most prominent for age and PRD and less prominent for sex. Over time, the largest change in recipient characteristics was observed for the percentage of recipients aged 65 years or older, increasing from 18% in 2010 to 28% in 2019 for all countries combined with a similar trend in most countries. Conclusion We observed large differences for age and PRD distribution between recipients of living and deceased donor kidneys and between European countries. Over time, the percentage of older first kidney transplant recipients increased.

The well-being of students and staff directly affects their output and efficiency. This study presents the results of two focus groups conducted in 2022 within a two-phase project led by the Applied Biomedical and Signal Processing Intelligent e-Health Lab, School of Engineering at the University of Warwick, and British Telecom within “The Connected Campus: University of Warwick case study” program. The first phase, by involving staff and students at the University of Warwick, aimed at collecting preliminary information for the subsequent second phase, about the feasibility of the use of Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things for well-being support on Campus. The main findings of this first phase are interesting technological suggestions from real users. The users helped in the design of the scenarios and in the selection of the key enabling technologies which they considered as the most relevant, useful and acceptable to support and improve well-being on Campus. These results will inform future services to design and implement technologies for monitoring and supporting well-being, such as hybrid, minimal and even intrusive (implantable) solutions. The user-driven co-design of such services, leveraging the use of wearable devices and Artificial Intelligence deployment will increase their acceptability by the users.

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