Across the world, many young people are leaving rural areas in search of better opportunities, yet others resist the move and choose to stay. Understanding why some remain despite strong incentives to leave has become a central question in contemporary migration and rural studies. This study examines intentions of young people to stay in rural areas in the Western Balkans, with particular attention to psychological and emotional anchors, especially inertia and place attachment. Using survey data from 1848 individuals aged 15–40 across Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, we combine hierarchical cluster analysis with age-stratified OLS regression. The cluster analysis identifies four anchoring profiles that range from symbolically attached younger respondents to occupationally anchored young adults and deeply rooted adults characterised by family, work, property, routine, and belonging. Inertia is the strongest and most consistent correlate of staying intentions across all age groups. Place attachment matters especially among younger age groups, appearing as symbolic attachment in the cluster analysis and as a meaningful predictor among respondents in their early twenties. Sunk costs and livelihood anchors, particularly paid work and property-related commitments, are more prominent among older respondents. Gender alone is not consistently associated with staying intentions, although its association varies across national contexts in some models. The findings demonstrate that rural staying is best understood through multidimensional patterns of anchoring. The paper highlights how attachment, routine, work, property, family formation, and personal dispositions combine differently across age groups to shape intentions to remain.
This study analyzes trends in three temperature variables (average annual air temperature, maximum air temperature, and minimum air temperature) for 72 time series from 24 meteorological stations in Central Serbia, spanning from 1949 to 2018. Data was sourced from meteorological yearbooks on the website of the Republic Hydrometeorological Institute of Serbia. Three statistical approaches were used: trend equation, trend magnitude, and the non-parametric Mann-Kendall (MK) trend test. GIS was applied to visualize geospatial data distribution. The results indicate a temperature increase in 66 of the 72 time series, with the largest increase of 4.3 degrees C and the smallest of 0.2 degrees C. Temperature decreases were recorded in 6 time series, with the largest decrease of-0.5 degrees C. The MK trend test revealed a statistically significant positive trend in 53 time series. Geospatial analysis showed varying temperatures across the region, with average annual air temperatures ranging from 10.6 degrees C in Dimitrovgrad to 18.1 degrees C in Belgrade. These findings offer insights into climate change in Central Serbia, highlighting areas of temperature increase and decrease, and provide a foundation for future climate research and strategy development.
The COVID-19 pandemic has favored the rapid adoption of digital solutions into mental healthcare services. This study investigates the competency of mental healthcare providers delivering eMental Health services in Kosovo, exploring advantages, disadvantages, and factors influencing remote service implementation. Employing a convergent parallel design mixed method, the study involved 197 mental healthcare providers (57% female, 42% male) who responded to demographic questions and the eHealth Competency Scale; and 24 mental healthcare providers (18 psychologists, 6 psychiatrists) who participated in semistructured interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using IBM SPSS, while inductive thematic analysis identified implications of delivering remote services by categorizing themes extracted from the interviews. The results indicate that mental healthcare providers are competent in delivering remote service. Notably, psychologists and psychiatrists exhibit significant differences in digital tool usage (Z = -3.503; p = .001), as well as females and males in self-efficacy (Z = -2.29; p = .02) and digital tool usage (Z = -3.14; p = .02). Also, 80.1% of study participants reported a lack of guidance for digital tools, and 62.8% noted the absence of established digital care standards. Qualitative analysis yields five major themes: (1) (In) Efficiency, (2) Therapist skills, (3) Relationship with client, (4) Ethical/legal considerations, and (5) (In) capacities to deliver remote services-highlighting the absence of guidelines and standards as the most challenging part of assistance. The implementation of eMental healthcare encounters enduring and significant challenges. Rather than serving as a replacement for face-to-face care, it is imperative to recognize eMental healthcare as a complementary dimension of client/patient care.
Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of the most toxic mycotoxins contaminating animal feed, and bentonite clays are widely used as adsorbents to reduce its bioavailability. This study introduces and characterizes a new, previously unexplored bentonite deposit from Bijelo Polje (Bar, Montenegro), with similar to 55% montmorillonite in the raw material. Size fractions (<0.200 mm, <0.037 mm, <0.005 mm) were obtained by sieving and centrifugation and characterized by laser diffraction, chemical composition, BET, CEC, and quantitative XRD (Rietveld). In vitro AFB1 adsorption (2-50 ppm, pH 3.0, 0.02% w/v adsorbent) simulated monogastric gastrointestinal conditions. Progressive size reduction increased smectite content (from similar to 55% to 91%), CEC (44-70 meq/100 g), purity, and BET specific surface area (26.5-50.8 m(2)/g), while reducing impurities and heavy metals to undetectable levels. The finest fraction (<0.005 mm) achieved the highest maximum adsorption capacity (q(max) approximate to 240 mg/g), attributed to enhanced surface homogeneity and site accessibility, significantly outperforming coarser fractions and most unmodified natural bentonites. Only the <0.005 mm fraction fully complies with EU regulatory requirements (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1060/2013) for AFB1-binding feed additives (>= 70% dioctahedral smectite, >90% binding, low quartz/calcite). These results demonstrate that simple mechanical fractionation can yield exceptional performance in a novel natural raw material, offering a cost-effective, sustainable alternative to chemical modification for mycotoxin mitigation.
Abstract Background Drug delivery systems (DDS) offer a promising strategy to enhance the therapeutic index of chemotherapeutic agents in colon cancer by improving tumor targeting, circulation time, and controlled drug release. Despite extensive preclinical research, a quantitative synthesis evaluating the efficacy of DDS and the influence of design parameters remains lacking. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of preclinical in vivo studies assessing DDS-based chemotherapy in murine models of colon cancer. A comprehensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Google Scholar, Cochrane CENTRAL, and ClinicalTrials.gov was performed through October 15, 2025. Outcomes included tumor growth inhibition, with subgroup analyses examining the effects of DDS platform, chemotherapeutic agent, targeting strategy, ligand type, and route of administration. Results Twenty-three studies comprising 25 experiments and 539 animals were included. Overall, DDS-based therapies significantly reduced tumor growth compared with controls ((WMD: − 557.7; 95% CI: − 716.8 to − 398.5; I²=88%; p < 0.001) and free-drug administration ((WMD: − 276.3; 95% CI: − 367.6 to − 185.1; I²=78%; p < 0.001). Both targeted and non-targeted DDS significantly reduced tumor growth compared with free drug treatment, while targeted DDS showed significantly greater efficacy than non-targeted systems (WMD: − 240.3; 95% CI: − 399.4 to − 81.25; I²=59%; p = 0.003). Although no statistically significant differences were observed between DDS platforms or chemotherapeutic agent subgroups, micelle-based systems and DDS formulations incorporating SN-38 or doxorubicin tended to show greater tumor growth reduction. Intravenous administration demonstrated significantly greater efficacy than intraperitoneal delivery, while hyaluronic acid- and aptamer-based targeting strategies achieved the largest tumor growth inhibition. Risk-of-bias assessment indicated moderate methodological quality, with variability in reporting of randomization, blinding, and sample size calculations. Conclusions DDS-based chemotherapy consistently improves antitumor efficacy in preclinical colon cancer models, with targeting strategy, platform type, chemotherapeutic agent, and administration route influencing outcomes. These findings support the rational design of DDS platforms and underscore their translational potential. Rigorous preclinical study design and standardized reporting of efficacy and safety are essential to facilitate clinical translation.
