The paper explores a more comprehensive approach to assessing text-level difficulty by combining quantitative readability metrics with qualitative analyses of content and context which help in reading comprehension and reading-for-translation. It compares two excerpts using eight readability scores formulas (Automated Readability Index, Flesch Reading Ease, Gunning Fog Index, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Coleman-Liau Readability Index, Smog Index, Original Linsear Write Formula, Linsear Write Grade Level Formula) to explore how topic, content, and context may be used as indicators of text-level difficulty. Using authentic texts, specifically interviews from Humans of New York, the paper aims to demonstrate that other (extra)linguistic features must be considered beyond the numerical scores provided by readability formulas.

Giardia duodenalis is a protozoan parasite with worldwide distribution and recognized zoonotic potential. Data on its molecular epidemiology in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are scarce, particularly in wild mesocarnivores. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence and genetic characterization of G. duodenalis in domestic and wild mesocarnivores across BiH. A total of 520 fecal samples were collected between 2023 and 2025, including dogs (Canis lupus familiaris, n = 433), cats (Felis catus, n = 21), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes, n = 39), golden jackals (Canis aureus, n = 17), European pine martens (Martes martes, n = 5), grey wolves (Canis lupus, n = 1), European badgers (Meles meles, n = 2), and European wildcats (Felis silvestris, n = 1). Screening was performed using fecal flotation and immunofluorescence assay (IFAT), with selected samples further analyzed by high-resolution melting (HRM) real-time PCR (qPCR-HRM) and targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS). Overall, G. duodenalis was detected in 20.96 % (109/520) of samples by flotation and IFAT. Cats showed the highest positivity rate (71.43 %), followed by dogs (21.02 %), whereas wild mesocarnivores exhibited substantially lower detection rates (5.13 % in red foxes and 5.88 % in golden jackals). Among dog subpopulations, hunting dogs showed the highest positivity (49.52 %) compared with shelter dogs (6.72 %). Molecular typing revealed assemblage D as predominant (65.91 %), followed by assemblages B (18.18 %), C (6.82 %), and F (4.55 %), with occasional mixed profiles. Assemblage D occurred across multiple hosts, while the zoonotic assemblage B was detected exclusively in wild canids. This study provides the first molecular epidemiological evidence of G. duodenalis assemblage circulation among domestic and wild mesocarnivores in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The findings identify cats and hunting dogs as key hosts contributing to parasite circulation and demonstrate limited but epidemiologically meaningful involvement of wild mesocarnivores, underscoring the importance of integrated One Health surveillance to assess transmission risks at the domestic-wildlife-human interface.

Acute and chronic abdominal pain are widespread and debilitating symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that substantially decrease patients’ quality of life. Opioids are powerful drugs yet activation of their traditional target, the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) in the central nervous system, is accompanied by severe adverse effects including dependence, sedation and respiratory depression. In recent years, targeting the κ-opioid receptor (KOR) in the periphery emerged as a promising strategy for the development of safer opioid-based analgesics to treat IBD-related pain. We generated cyclized analogues of dynorphin, the endogenous peptide ligand of KOR, and characterized them in pharmacological assays. Our efforts yielded thioether cyclized dynorphin (TCD) showing binding affinity to the KOR in the nanomolar range, with 16- and 150-fold selectivity over the MOR and δ-opioid receptor (DOR), respectively, as determined in radioligand binding assays. In the [35S]GTPγS binding assay, TCD acted as a partial agonist at the KOR when compared to the KOR agonist U69,593, while in the cAMP accumulation assay the peptide had an efficacy exceeding that of dynorphin A1-13. Importantly, TCD exhibits a strong KOR-mediated antinociceptive effect after subcutaneous administration in mouse models of inflammatory pain (formalin-induced inflammatory pain) and visceral pain (acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing test) with an ED50 of around 1.5 μmol/kg, being equipotent to U50,488. Furthermore, TCD did not produce KOR-mediated liability of motor dysfunction/sedation in the rotarod test when given to mice in a 7-fold higher dose than the antinociceptive doses. To obtain a lead compound suitable for oral application, we investigate to increase the stability of TCDs in gastric and intestinal fluids utilizing a medicinal chemistry strategy. Our research has the potential to improve IBD patient care by providing innovative and safer pain drug candidates.

The identification of cancer drivers is a cornerstone to delivery of precision oncology. So far sequencing of renal cell cancer (RCC) has largely been confined to the clear cell subtype of RCC. In contrast, sequencing analyses of the less common forms of RCC, papillary RCC (pRCC) and chromophobe RCC (ChRCC), have so far been limited. We analysed whole genome sequencing data on 164 tumour-normal pairs from the Genomics England 100,000 Genomes Project, providing a comprehensive, high-resolution map of copy number alterations, structural variation, and key global genomic features, including mutational signatures, intra-tumour heterogeneity and analysis of extrachromosomal DNA formation. Our research establishes correlations between genomic alterations and histological diversification and the extent to which genetically-mediated immune escape contributes to the development of these RCC subtypes. Implications: We demonstrate the distinctive genetics which characterises pRCC and ChRCC and how this information has the potential to inform patient treatment and clinical trials.

Everyday communication is dynamic and multisensory, often involving shifting attention, overlapping speech and visual cues. Yet, most neural attention tracking studies are still limited to highly controlled lab settings, using clean, often audio-only stimuli and requiring sustained attention to a single talker. This work addresses that gap by introducing a novel dataset from 24 normal-hearing participants. We used a mobile electroencephalography (EEG) system (44 scalp electrodes and 20 cEEGrid electrodes) in an audiovisual (AV) paradigm with three conditions: sustained attention to a single talker in a two-talker environment, attention switching between two talkers, and unscripted two-talker conversations with a competing single talker. Analysis included temporal response functions (TRFs) modeling, optimal lag analysis, selective attention classification with decision windows ranging from 1.1s to 35s, and comparisons of TRFs for attention to AV conversations versus side audio-only talkers. Key findings show significant differences in the attention-related P2-peak between attended and ignored speech across conditions for scalp EEG. No significant change in performance between switching and sustained attention suggests robustness for attention switches. Optimal lag analysis revealed narrower peak for conversation compared to single-talker AV stimuli, reflecting the additional complexity of multi-talker processing. Classification of selective attention was consistently above chance (55-70% accuracy) for scalp EEG, while cEEGrid data yielded lower correlations, highlighting the need for further methodological improvements. These results demonstrate that mobile EEG can reliably track selective attention in dynamic, multisensory listening scenarios and provide guidance for designing future AV paradigms and real-world attention tracking applications.

Incorporating noble-metal nanoparticles into semiconductors offers a powerful means to tailor their functional properties. Here, we demonstrate that embedding ordered three-dimensional lattices of Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) into MoO3 thin films via magnetron sputtering enables broad tunability of the optical and thermo-electrical behavior. The formation of regular Au NP lattices, with controlled particle sizes, interparticle separations, and ordering, is achieved through precise adjustment of the deposition temperature and layer thickness conditions. Localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) arising from Au NPs-and their coupling at small separations-induce a strong modulation of the optical absorption across a wide spectral range. Simultaneously, the film's electrical resistance can be tuned by up to six orders of magnitude, while the activation energy and temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) are reduced by up to fifty-fold compared to pure MoO3. These findings offer relevant information for designing oxide-plasmonic hybrid materials, highlighting their potential for next-generation optoelectronic, sensing, and energy-harvesting devices.

The reproducibility crisis and translational gap in preclinical research underscore the need for more accurate and reliable methods of health monitoring in animal models. Manual testing is labor-intensive, low-throughput, prone to human bias, and often stressful for animals. Although many smart cages have been introduced, they have seen limited adoption due to either low throughput (being limited to single animals), low data density (a few metrics only), high costs, a need for new space or infrastructure in the vivarium, high complexity use, or a combination of the above. Although technologies for video-based single-animal tracking have matured, no existing technology enables robust and accurate multi-animal tracking in standard home cages. To solve these problems, we built a new type of assay device: the Smart Lid. Smart Lids mount to existing racks, above standard home cages and stream video and audio data, turning regular racks into high-throughput monitoring platforms. To solve the multi-animal tracking problem, we developed a new computer vision pipeline (MOT - Multi-Organism Tracker) along with a new ear tag purpose-designed for computer vision tracking. MOT achieves over 97% accuracy in multi-animal tracking while maintaining an affordable runtime cost (less than $100 per month). The pipeline returns 21 health-related metrics, covering activity, feeding, drinking, rearing, climbing, fighting, cage positioning, social interactions and sleeping, with additional metrics under development.

Educators, including teachers and professional associates, increasingly face challenges that extend beyond traditional pedagogical roles, particularly when working with children with developmental difficulties in inclusive educational settings. In addition to instructional responsibilities, they are expected to respond to diverse learning and behavioral needs, collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, communicate with families, and provide sustained emotional support to students. These demands require high levels of professional competence, flexibility, and emotional engagement, which can place considerable strain on educators’ psychological resources. This issue is particularly relevant in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where inclusive education has been formally promoted, but where structured support for educators is often fragmented. In such conditions, educators may rely heavily on personal commitment to compensate for systemic gaps, which may further increase vulnerability to stress and burnout. Thus, the aim of this review paper is to provide a systematic analysis of literature published between 2010 and 2025 focusing on psychological challenges faced by educators in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Both empirical and review studies addressing professional stress, emotional labor, emotion regulation, social support, and mental health interventions were examined. The findings indicate that effective emotion regulation, supportive work environments, and strong institutional and collegial support are key protective factors in preventing burnout and sustaining professional well-being.

We introduce BallotRank, a ranked preference aggregation method derived from a modified PageRank algorithm. It is a Condorcet-consistent method without damping, and empirical examination of nearly 2,000 ranked choice elections and over 20,000 internet polls confirms that BallotRank always identifies the Condorcet winner at conventional values of the damping parameter. We also prove that the method satisfies many of the same social choice criteria as other well-known Condorcet completion methods, but it has the advantage of being a natural social welfare function that provides a full ranking of the candidates.

Jejunal diverticulosis is a rare condition that often presents asymptomatically, but can occasionally lead to severe complications, such as obstruction, perforation or bleeding. We report a case of an incarcerated ventral hernia resulting from massive jejunal diverticulosis, an unusual cause of bowel obstruction. An 80-year-old female patient presented with acute abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Physical examination revealed a tender, irreducible mass in the epigastric region. Exploratory surgery was performed and confirmed the presence of multiple jejunal diverticula, with one segment incarcerated in the epigastric hernia. The patient underwent successful surgical repair, including liberation of the affected jejunal segment and hernia repair. This case highlights the importance of considering jejunal diverticulosis in the differential diagnosis of bowel obstruction, and emphasizes the need for prompt surgical intervention in cases of complicated diverticulosis. Early diagnosis and appropriate management are critical inpreventing the severe morbidity and mortality associated with this condition.

Aim: To identify the clinicopathological factors associated with five year mortality in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) treated at Cantonal Hospital Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods: A retrospective cohort of 64 consecutively operated CRC patients (2019 2024) was analysed. The base-line variables included age, sex, tumor stage, histology, metastatic burden, local infiltration, and comorbidities. Five year cumulative mortality was the primary outcome. Risk ratios (RR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were calculated by two by two contingency analysis.Results: The cohort comprised 26 women (40.6 %) and 38 men (59.4 %); their median age was 64 years (IQR 58.8–73.0). Eleven patients (17.2 %) died within five years. Mortality was strongly linked to tumor spread and cardiometabolic disease. Any distant metastasis conferred a fifteen fold increase in risk (9/15 vs 2/49; RR 14.7, 95 % CI 3.6–60.8, p < 0.001), and the involvement of two or more metastatic sites remained prognostic (RR 5.6, 95 % CI 1.9–16.9,p = 0.014). Infiltration of more than two adjacent organs quadrupled mortality (RR 4.4, 95 % CI 1.7–11.6, p = 0.032). Hypertension was present in 10 of the 11 deaths, yielding an RR of 12.1 (95 % CI 1.6–88.8, p = 0.002).Type 2 diabetes also increased risk (RR 3.5, 95 % CI 1.3–9.6, p = 0.040). Patients with three or more comorbid conditions had a nearly four times higher mortality (RR 3.9, 95 % CI 1.3–11.7, p = 0.027).Conclusion: The five year death rate in this Bosnian Herzegovinian CRC cohort was driven chiefly by distant metastasis, extensive local invasion, and cardiometabolic comorbidities—especially hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Early detection of metastatic spread and proactive management of vascular risk factors may improve survival in similar settings.

Background: Laparoscopic appendectomy is the treatment of choice for acute appendicitis. The optimal technique of appendiceal stump closure is still under discussion because it is assumed to affect the occurrence of complications. The three-port combined technique with laparoscopically assisted extracorporeal base ligation (mesoappendix hemostasis performed intra-abdominally and the appendix ligated extra-abdominally) represents a novel technique with which to ligate the appendiceal stump following laparoscopic appendectomy. We compared this combined technique with the appendix stump treatment technique using an endoscopic loop, for complicated and uncomplicated appendicitis. Material and methods: In the period from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2024, 628 patients under the age of 18 were operated on for appendicitis at the Clinic for Pediatric Surgery of the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo, 430(68.5%) with open appendectomy and 198(31,5%) with laparoscopic appendectomy We divided all the patients intotwo groups, group A with 102 patients who underwent surgery with a combined laparoscopic method, and group B where the base of the appendix was closed with an endoscopic loop (95 patients).Results: 198 patients underwent laparoscopic surgery, of which 123 (62%) were boys and 75 (38%) girls. Of these 198 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery, 102 (52%) were treated using laparoscopically assisted extracorporeal ligation of the base of the appendix, 80 (40%) patients with one endoloop, 15 (8%) with 2 endoloops and only one patient with 1(0.5%) hem-o-lok and an endoloop. Of the 198 patients who were operated laparoscopically, 108 (54%) had complicated appendicitis, 59 (30%) uncomplicated appendicitis and 31 (16%) chronic appendicitis. The average duration of surgery for patients treated with the combined method was 58.61 minutes and with endoscopic loops 69.41 minutes. The average length of hospitalization for patients treated with the combined method was 3.96 days and with endoscopic loops 4.59 days.Conclusions: The three-port combined technique for laparoscopically assisted extracorporeal base ligation of the appendix is a safe, useful, and cost-effective alternative to endoscopic loops, with the advantages of less manipulation, fewer complications involving the appendix, and shorter operative times. This technique is particularly acceptable in resource-limited countries.

Rapid industrialization has led to the creation of large amounts of wastewater containing various pollutants, among which heavy metals stand out. Heavy metals such as Cd (II) ions cause serious chronic diseases and even death if they are present in high concentrations. Therefore, this manuscript investigates the possibility of Cd (II) ion removal by precipitation method using Ca(OH)2. In order to optimize the precipitation process, the following were investigated: initial pH, initial concentration of Cd (II) ions, dose of added Ca(OH)2, stirring speed and contact time, as well as the influence of competing ions on the removal efficiency of Cd (II) ions. The optimization of the precipitation process was performed by varying one operational parameter at a time, while keeping all other parameters constant. Results of Cd(II) ion removal efficiency and optimal conditions are: pH 5 (99.961%), stirring speed of 0 rpm (99.985%), contact time metal-precipitant 5 minutes (99.965%), added dose of Ca(OH)2 60 mg (99.965%). Complete removal of Cd (II) ions was achieved at a Cd(II) ion concentration of 10 ppm, and high removal efficiency was achieved at concentrations of 50-300 ppm (98.231-99.994%). The removal efficiency of over 99% of Cd (II) ions was achieved during individual tests of ion competitiveness. Therefore, it can be concluded that under the tested conditions, Ca(OH)2 is an effective agent for removing Cd (II) with an efficiency above 99%.

Background and purpose This study investigates the influence of pedagogical qualification on the teaching of gymnastics in primary education, focusing on Slovak teachers’ instructional practices, resource utilization, and perceptions of teaching difficulty. Gymnastics is a foundational component of physical education (PE), promoting critical motor skills such as coordination, balance, and strength. Despite its benefits, gymnastics is often perceived as a difficult subject to teach, largely due to gaps in teacher training. Material and methods An online survey was completed by 1 189 actively employed primary school teachers across Slovakia during the 2023/2024 school year. Respondents were grouped by pedagogical background: 52.23% held preschool/elementary education qualifications, while 47.77% had alternative pedagogical training such as PE specialization. Results Results showed that “Gymnastics/Dance” was rated as the second most challenging thematic unit by both groups, with 28.18% of preschool/elementary-qualified teachers and 34.54% of other-qualified teachers selecting it, following “Health/Fitness” (38.49% and 37.18%, respectively). Although differences were not statistically significant (χ ²(3) = 7.56, p = 0.055), they highlight widespread difficulty with gymnastics instruction. Apparatus use was similarly high in both groups, with 66.34% of preschool/elementary-trained and 66.20% of other-qualified teachers reporting use of traditional gymnastics equipment. However, significant differences were observed in broader equipment use (χ²(3) = 12.84, p = 0.005), where 23.35% of preschool/elementary-trained teachers reported using both traditional and non-traditional tools compared to 17.96% of other-qualified teachers. Perceptions of facility adequacy also varied significantly (χ²(3) = 9.86, p = 0.018), with more critical ratings from preschool/ elementary-trained respondents. Conclusions These findings suggest that pedagogical training influences teaching diversity, expectations, and perceived support in gymnastics education. The study highlights the need for more robust, practice-focused training in gymnastics during teacher preparation, as well as improved access to equipment and facilities to support high-quality instruction.