The student population includes young adults who need nutrition and regular physical activity (PA) for mental, cognitive, and physical development. It is estimated that, globally, only 25–40% of the university student population is involved in regular PA. To date, no research has been conducted in the Western Balkans to address the PA of medical students. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and factors influencing PA among medical students from the Western Balkans. A cross-sectional study included 2452 students from 14 medical faculties in five countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia). There were significantly more students who engaged than those who did not engage in some type of regular (daily) PA. Gender, overweight or obesity, and household income are significantly associated with students’ PA. Students who are more often involved in regular daily PA and have higher daily PA levels are more likely to be males whose household income is above average. In order to improve the health of the student population, the public health authorities need to continuously investigate the PA of students and introduce appropriate activities to increase their level of PA.

University student’s smoking is a significant public health problem. It is estimated that, globally, every fifth medical student is a smoker. So far, no research dealing with cigarette smoking among medical students has been conducted in the countries of the Western Balkans. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and risk factors of cigarette smoking among Western Balkans medical students. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2452 students from 14 medical faculties in the Western Balkans (Republic of Slovenia, Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of North Macedonia and Republic of Serbia). The data were gathered through an online survey. There were significantly more non-smokers than smokers among medical students. Only gender and parents smoking status were statistically significantly associated with students smoking status. The smokers were more often male students, who lived in urban areas prior their studies, and whose parents were both smokers. With the aim of monitoring and enhancing student population health, it is necessary for public health activists and health officials to continually survey the students’ smoking status in order to recognize the smoking influencing factors, and form and take on appropriate activities to improve the prevention of cigarette smoking among students, as well as motivate those who smoke to give up smoking, which would contribute to improving the health of the student population.

Using the setting of generalized metric space, so called G-metric space, a fixed point theorems for mappings with a contractive iterate at a point are proved. This result generalize well known comparable result.

Recent European Union regulations aim at reducing the use of chemical pesticides in agriculture. In sunflower production in Serbia, the use of synthetic insecticides for soil and seed treatments has become a prevailing practice for wireworm (Coleoptera: Elateridae) control. However, a number of compounds efficiently used as seed treatments have been phased out. This work aimed at assessing the potential of an environmentally friendly “Attract and Kill” strategy (A&K) for controlling wireworms in sunflower in comparison to conventional insecticides. The experiments were carried out in 2018, 2019 and 2021 involving (a) soil treatments with ATTRACAP^® and a Force 1.5 G; (b) seed treatments with Sonido, Force 20 CS, Lumiposa and Buteo Start 480 FS; (c) controls (i.e., untreated seeds). The efficacy of the treatments was assessed based on the plant density and emerging plant damage (%). A damage rating scale (levels 0–5) was created, aiming for a more reliable and concrete interpretation of the results. Data were processed using binomial and multinomial regressions, followed by modelling of the damage and calculating the odds of damage occurrence, depending on the applied insecticide. In all experimental years and at all localities, the Force 20 CS and/or Force 1.5 G treatments resulted in the highest plant density and the lowest percentage of plant damage. ATTRACAP^® showed good effectiveness, since plant density and percentage of damaged plants were at the same level of significance as the commonly used conventional insecticides in sunflower production (Sonido for seed treatment and Force 1.5 G for soil treatment). Thus, the A&K strategy was efficient in controlling wireworms at conditions of low abundance, based on three-year experimental results. Although the damage rating scale enabled a clear differentiation of plant damage caused by wireworms responsible for reduced plant density, more reliable models were obtained by binomial regressions, classifying plants as damaged or undamaged.