Teaching science throughout the six-year medical curriculum: Two-year experience from the University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Marušić

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Objective. The aim of this article is to present the introduction of a mandatory, vertically integrated course in research methodology into medical curriculum. At the School of Medicine in Split (Croatia we organized this course in 2010, with the total of 270 hours in the 6-year curriculum. In the first year (50 hours students learned basic principles of scientific method, structure of scientific article, basic statistical concepts, data analysis, interpretation and presentation. In the second year (25 hours students applied the knowledge from the first year in real examples of research data to answer a research hypothesis and present the results and conclusions. Students were guided through the process of making a hypothesis, analyzing data, interpreting them, constructing tables and figures, and writing a short research report. At the end of the course they formally presented the results to other students and course teachers, using PowerPoint slides. The third year (25 hours was devoted to mastering concepts and basic skills of evidencebased medicine (EBM. The course in the fourth year (25 hours was integrated with the clinical courses (internal medicine, neurology, and psychiatry and structured as a “journal club”. In the fifth year (25 hours, the teaching was devoted to developing a research plan for the graduation thesis that the students had to conduct during the sixth year. The sixth year (120 hours was devoted to the execution of research planned in the fifth year, including data collection, data analysis, interpretation, and thesis writing and defense. Conclusion. The new course succeeded in increasing students’ knowledge and skills for critical thinking and EBM, and prepared them for life-long learning in medicine.

The Current Situation of Field Experience in a Five-Year Science Teacher Education Program in Thailand

Science.gov (United States)

Faikhamta, Chatree; Jantarakantee, Ekgapoom; Roadrangka, Vantipa

2011-01-01

This research explored the current situation in managing the field experience of a five-year science teacher education program in one university in Thailand. A number of methods were used to assess field experience situation: (1) a questionnaire on the perceptions of pre-service science teachers of field experience management; (2) participant…

Five Years of Cyclotron Radioisotope Production Experiences at the First PET-CT in Venezuela

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colmenter, L.; Coelho, D.; Esteves, L. M.; Ruiz, N.; Morales, L.; Lugo, I.; Sajo-Bohus, L.; Liendo, J. A.; Greaves, E. D.; Barros, H.; Castillo, J.

2007-01-01

Five years operation of a compact cyclotron installed at PET-CT facility in Caracas, Venezuela is given. Production rate of 18 F labeled FDG, operation and radiation monitoring experience are included. We conclude that 18 FDG CT-PET is the most effective technique for patient diagnosis

Sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer: five years experience from Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Peter; Balslev, E.; Jensen, D.

2008-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Danish experience from the first five years with sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) as a routine staging procedure in early breast cancer is reported. METHODS: During the period January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2006, 14 923 patients were diagnosed at Danish breast surgical centers...... certified for the sentinel node method. SLNB was performed in 8 338 patients (55.9%). The fraction increased steadily from 43% in 2002 to 67% in 2006. The median follow-up was 1.7 year (range 0-5.2 years). RESULTS: Patients staged with SLNB were younger, had more often BCS, had smaller tumor size, were more...... often hormone receptor positive, and had lower grade, than patients staged with lymph node dissection (ALND). Blue dye and radio colloid were used in combination in 82%. Lymphoscintigraphy was performed in 61%, and frozen section was performed in 87%. Originally, peritumoral injection of tracer was most...

Understanding the Educational Experiences of Science Teachers in a Five-Year Teacher Education Program: A Phenomenological Study

Science.gov (United States)

Srivastava, Nitin

This qualitative study provides an overview of educational experiences of six in-service and three pre-service secondary science teachers in the Benedum Collaborative Five-Year Teacher Education Program at a land-grant university. The researcher interviewed secondary science teachers on the experiences they found meaningful in various program components that influenced their teacher identity, beliefs about science pedagogy, and their sense of preparedness for teaching. Document analysis of teachers' journals and lesson plans supplemented the qualitative data in addition to the researcher's role and knowledge as an outsider (non-Benedum graduate) and insider (facilitator and instructor in the technology integration based classes for one year) of the Benedum Collaborative Five-Year Teacher Education Program. Findings also supported the Holmes (1986) and Goodlad (1990) views for extended field experiences and "collaborative culture" in teacher education for well-prepared teachers.

Energy needs by the year 2025 in Croatia; Potrebe energije do 2025. godine u Hrvatskoj

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pesut, D [Energetski institut Hrvoje Pozar, Zagreb (Croatia); Slipac, G [Hrvatska elektroprivreda, Zagreb (Croatia)

1997-12-31

In this work are presented first, working results of forecasting energy needs by the year 2025 in Croatia, what is being carried out as a part of the Project PROHES. Future needs for useful heat, motor fuels and electricity for nonthermal purposes, have been analysed. Research still continues, more scenarios are being worked out, and its results, that will also include primary energy needs, are expected in the middle of the year 1997. (author). 29 figs.

How corruption affects business results: The case of Croatia

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Jelena Budak

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The background of this paper is found in recent theories why corruption prevalence menaces the safety of business environment. In order to examine if exposure to corruption derogates business results of firms in Croatia we have tested the hypothesis that higher corruption perceptions of business leaders in small, medium and large firms in Croatia are associated with firms’ worse financial results. As a seminal research we measure corruption perceptions of business by employing unique data from three annual surveys conducted in more than one hundred firms in Croatia. The constructed index of corruption perceptions of business is used in the empirical analysis how higher corruption perceptions of firms in Croatia are affecting financial results in terms of total revenue per employee, net profit per employee and total sales per employee. The years of observation are 2002, 2003 and 2004. The extension of our research to three groups of small, medium and large firms in Croatia aims to separately examine the correlation between corruption perceptions indices and financial results for each group of firms. The preliminary results indicate that corruption is more affecting small firms in Croatia. Policy recommendations and lines of further research are discussed.

Migration Processes Provoked yy the Break-Up of Yugoslavia and the Agression against Croatia

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Mirjana Domini

1999-10-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with forced migration caused by Serb aggression in areas of Croatia and the neighbouring countries. The first part presents the relevant facts relating to Croatia and important for an understanding of the migration flows (some demographic data as well as the basic guidelines of migration policy, legal regulations and most important problems connected with expellees, refugees and displaced persons. The main elements of contemporary migration movements in Croatia are indicated – migration based on economic causes (traditional migration, migration provoked by crisis and war destruction in former Yugoslavia and migration flows that are difficult to register (mainly clandestine crossings of the border of the Republic of Croatia and the irregular labour market. The author states that the expellee, refugee and displaced persons crisis (with psychological and material repercussions began in 1991 and reached a climax in 1992 when Croatia became one of the most pronounced refugee countries in the world, with refugees accounting for about 15% of its population. As the war crisis shifted, the areas from which intense forced migration to and from Croatia resulted also shifted as did the mechanisms for regulating these forced migrations (dual citizenship, transit visas, accords with "third countries" for accepting refugees and expellees, ways of resolving and caring for the refugee-expellee populations in the Republic of Croatia. The author concludes that even after seven years from the start of the aggression against Croatia, this humanitarian crisis among expellees, refugees and displaced persons has not yet finished, as testified by the new military conflict in Kosovo and by many open questions in regard to the future organisation of states in this crisis area as well as the creation of mechanisms for monitoring potential conflicts. A fundamental idea is expressed throughout the paper – i.e. the notion that now it is maybe more

Exploring the relationship between energy consumption and GDP: Evidence from Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borozan, Djula

2013-01-01

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between total energy consumption and real gross domestic product (GDP) covering the period between 1992 and 2010 in Croatia. The methodology employed in this paper is based on the bivariate vector autoregression (VAR) and Granger causality tests. Moreover, the impulse response function and variance decomposition analysis are employed to trace the dynamic response paths of shocks to the system. The empirical analysis shows that, when it is allowed for any deterministic component in the data, total energy consumption and real GDP are not co-integrated in the period observed. Furthermore, there is a unidirectional causality running from total energy consumption to GDP, and an impulse response to GDP caused by energy consumption, being mainly embodied in the first years. The results indicate that total energy consumption is an important component determining economic growth in Croatia and that energy conservation policy should be formulated and implemented wisely. This paper also tests the causality between real GDP and consumption of the five energy variables by using the bivariate VAR. The main implication of these tests is that individual energy forms matter when it comes to energy policy formulation. - Highlights: • There is a unidirectional causality running from energy consumption to real GDP in Croatia. • There is an impulse response to real GDP caused by energy consumption, being mainly embodied in the first years. • Energy consumption is an important component determining economic growth. • Individual energy forms matter when it comes to energy policy formulation

Consultant-based otolaryngology emergency service: a five-year experience.

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Barnes, M L; Hussain, S S M

2011-12-01

To present our experience of running a consultant-based otolaryngology emergency care service for more than five years. In 2003, we developed a system of consultant-based emergency service: consultants spent a week on-call providing a dedicated emergency service, with routine commitments cancelled. Our new system had advantages over traditional working practices in terms of consultant involvement, trainee education, continuity and efficiency. It also reduced disruption to elective commitments for both consultants and registrars. This system was fundamental to the successful review of all urgent (and in future elective) cases within target periods. Only 31 per cent of new referrals to the consultant emergency clinics required a further appointment. Good teamwork and flexibility in working arrangements have been essential to the success of this service. Given that health service changes have reduced junior trainee working hours and numbers, and that patients increasingly expect to be treated by trained doctors, our new consultant-based emergency service has merit. Although implementation in other units may differ, we recommend this new service, for the above reasons.

Unused Energy Resources of the Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potocnik, V.

2008-01-01

Croatia has very modest fossil fuels resources and relatively large unused potentials of increasing energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Energy import dependency is close to 60 percent and constantly rising, thus increasing already considerable Croatian foreign debt. By using potential of these resources until the year 2020 Croatia could almost totally eliminate fossil fuels import, reduce foreign debt as well as energy systems' harmful influences on environment, climate and health, and increase domestic employment.(author)

Psychosocial Adjustment to Sex Reassignment Surgery: A Qualitative Examination and Personal Experiences of Six Transsexual Persons in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Jokić-Begić, Nataša; Jurin, Tanja

2014-01-01

In Croatia, transgender individuals face numerous social and medical obstacles throughout the process of transition. The aim of this study was to depict the factors contributing to the psychosocial adjustment of six transsexual individuals living in Croatia following sex reassignment surgery (SRS). A combination of quantitative and qualitative self-report methods was used. Due to the specificity of the sample, the data were collected online. Standardized questionnaires were used to assess mental health and quality of life alongside a series of open-ended questions divided into 4 themes: the decision-making process regarding SRS; social and medical support during the SRS process; experience of discrimination and stigmatizing behaviors; psychosocial adjustment after SRS. Despite the unfavorable circumstances in Croatian society, participants demonstrated stable mental, social, and professional functioning, as well as a relative resilience to minority stress. Results also reveal the role of pretransition factors such as high socioeconomic status, good premorbid functioning, and high motivation for SRS in successful psychosocial adjustment. During and after transition, participants reported experiencing good social support and satisfaction with the surgical treatment and outcomes. Any difficulties reported by participants are related to either sexual relationships or internalized transphobia. The results also demonstrate the potentially protective role that a lengthier process of transition plays in countries such as Croatia. PMID:24790589

Parapneumonic effusions in children: five years’ experience

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Atilla Cifci

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Aim: Most severe complication of respiratory tract infections that causing morbidity and mortality in children is parapneumonic effusion(PPE. PPE is a pleural exudate that is related with primary pneumonia. The early and appropriate antibiotic treatment is very important in follow-up of patients who are diagnosed as parapneumonic effusion and also the timing of interventional and surgical treatment is important to decrease morbidity and mortalitiy in whom clinical and laboratory findings are not cured enough. Materials and Methods: In this study, the clinical and laboratory findings of parapneumonic effusion one hundred patients applied to one center in five years time are discussed. Results: The mean age of patients were 52 months(1.5-156, 52 were male(52%.The 71% of patients were smaller than five years old. The mean duration of hospitalization of patients were 19.6 days(1-45 days. Most frequent spymptom in application was fever, most frequent sign were tachycardia and retractions, most frequent laboratory anormality was high white blood count. The most frequent microorganism in pleural fluid culture was S.aureus. Conclusion: The determination of pathogens causing parapneumonic effusions in our country is very important for starting most suitable treatment early and to decrease morbidity and mortality. [J Contemp Med 2017; 7(4.000: 340-347

Unemployment and Long-Term Unemployment of Immigrants in Croatia

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Valerija Botrić

2016-04-01

older than 55 (in comparison to 35‒44 negative predictors: skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers and male persons. The analysis for the 2012 (crisis year has identified the following significant predictors of unemployment status for immigrants in Croatia, listed in the decreasing marginal effects order: positive predictors: elementary occupations, plant and machine operators, persons aged 15‒24 (in comparison to the reference age cohort 35‒44, craft and related trade workers, service and sales workers, persons older than 55 (in comparison to the reference age cohort; negative predictors: skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers and persons living in urban areas. The analysis has revealed that traditional predictors of labour market outcome status have also been significant for the immigrant population in Croatia. It also reveals that they change over time. The occupation of the immigrant is more important in the crisis, which is probably related to the adverse demand effects of specific economic activities. Additionally, age has gained increased importance in the crisis, which is similar to the experiences of the domicile population. The second segment of the analysis was focused on long-term unemployment. Unemployment is considered to be short-term if the person is in that status for less than a year (in accordance with the long-term unemployment definition used by the Eurostat and very long-term if the person is in that status for more than two years. Descriptive statistics reveals that there is a higher share of persons with lower secondary education in the long-term unemployment sample, while the highest share, regardless of the duration of the unemployment, is reserved for upper secondary education. The data also reveal that the share of unemployed immigrants registered as unemployed at the public employment service increased in the crisis year, regardless of the duration of the unemployment. It is also interesting to note that the

Do Karst Rivers “deserve” their own biotic index? A ten years study on macrozoobenthos in Croatia

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Rađa Biljana

2010-07-01

Full Text Available In this study we present the results of a ten year survey of the aquatic macroinvertebrate fauna along four karst rivers: Jadro, Žrnovnica, Grab and Ruda, all of them situated in the Middle Dalmatia region of Croatia, in an attempt to construct the Iliric Biotic Index, which will be more applicable for the water quality analysis than the most frequently applied biotic index in Croatia, the Italian Modification of Extended Biotic Index. The rivers geologically belong to the Dinaric karst, unique geological phenomena in Europe. Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected along each river at 15 sites by standard methods of sampling along with several physicochemical parameters, including: temperature, dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide, alkalinity, hardness and pH. Univariate and multivariate techniques revealed differences in the macroinvertebrate community structure as well as in physicochemical parameters between the Karst rivers and continental rivers. Based on those differences, the Iliric Biotic Index was proposed as the standard of karst river water quality in Croatia in accordance with the EU Water Framework Directive. Differences between the Iliric Biotic Index and the most commonly used biotic indices in the European Community and the USA (The Biological Monitoring Working Party (B.M.W.P. scores, i.e. Extended Biotic Index, Indice Biotique, Family Biotic Index suggest that karst rivers need a new biotic index.

Comparison of Environmental Attitudes and Experiences of Five-Year-Old Children Receiving Preschool Education in the Village and City Centre

Science.gov (United States)

Durkan, Nazmi; Güngör, Hande; Fetihi, Leyla; Erol, Ahmet; Gülay Ogelman, Hülya

2016-01-01

The purpose of the study is to compare environmental attitudes and experiences of five-year-old children receiving preschool education in the village and city centre. The first group comprised 54 five-year-old children who received preschool education and attended kindergartens of two primary schools in the Karateke and Kocabas villages of Honaz…

Tackling the undeclared economy in Croatia

OpenAIRE

Williams, C.C.; Baric, M.

2013-01-01

To evaluate how undeclared work is being tackled in Croatia this paper reports an\\ud e-survey and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in Croatia. It is revealed\\ud that, compared with the European Economic Area countries, Croatia has a weak\\ud institutional infrastructure for tackling undeclared work and pursues a narrower\\ud range of policy measures. The outcome is a call to develop a single body to better\\ud coordinate actions to tackle the undeclared economy in Croatia and for a shif...

Energy Transformation of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potocnik, V.

2014-01-01

Due to obvious climate change, caused mainly by combustion of the fossil fuels, as well as to their modest reserves, energy transformation is under way. It is the transition from the fossil fuels to improved energy efficiency (ENEF) and renewable energy sources (RES). Leading role in the energy transformation has Germany with 'Energiewende', which among other includes closing of existing nuclear power plants until 2022. Croatia has very limited proven fossil fuels reserves, which cover 3/4 of primary energy in consumption. Croatia also has large potential for improvements in ENEF and RES. Therefore, energy transformation of Croatia is justified. (author).

The population of Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Sterc, S; Crkvencic, I

1996-04-01

The authors examine historical and current population dynamics in Croatia. "The demographic structure of Croatia indicates a series of specificities which were primarily conditioned by the historical development of Croatia and which is particularly expressed in constant emigration since the end of the nineteenth century, the relatively large direct and indirect losses to the population during and immediately after the First and Second World Wars, emigration as a type of population movement in all inter-census periods after 1945, the appearance of a natural decline and the aging of the population on almost one half of the state territory." excerpt

SWOT analysis & privatization in Croatia

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Družić Ivo

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Legal framework for privatization in Croatia was based on two key laws: the Transformation Act of 1991, and the Privatization Act of 1993, amended in 1996. Early start of privatization process in 1990s in Croatia was marked by the transformation of socially-owned companies into stock holding companies or limited liability companies. The first step (1991-1993 of this process of almost 2700 companies which entered privatization was their evaluation and transformation into private ownership entities. The second step (1994- 1997 consisted of privatization of CPF portfolio. The portfolios change constantly, not only as a result of privatization but also because companies themselves change, as does their position in the market. The third step (1998 in the privatization process was voucher privatization. Privatization of large infrastructure and utility companies designated as public enterprises began in 1999 (Croatian Telecom and INA in 2002 (public enterprises are privatized on the basis of separate laws. Attempts to discuss privatization in Croatia in terms of SWOT analysis have been motivated by the stark difference among Croatian professional economists in an appraisal of Croatia's performance during the transition process in general and of the privatization process in particular. Therefore we considered the elements of SWOT analysis to be an acceptable way to delve into the confusing world of bickering arguments on the state and perspective of the Croatia's privatization process. In this paper we have tried to provide an impartial approach by employing two criteria i.e. strength and weaknesses in judging the events and results of the privatization process in Croatia. Strength of the overall privatization process can be mostly ascribed to the institutional swiftness on micro as well as on macro level. On the micro level 80% of the companies were formally privatized in the first two years despite unfavorable external conditions comprising the

International radiation protection recommendations. Five years experience of ICRP Publication 26

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindell, B.; Beninson, D.; Sowby, F.D.

1983-01-01

The International Commission on Radiological Protection has issued radiation protection recommendations since 1928. The latest set of basic recommendations was adopted by the Commission on 17 January 1977, and subsequently published as ICRP Publication 26. This document has met with a wider interest than any of the previous ICRP recommendations. It has been considered to mark a radical change in the protection policy advocated by ICRP. It is not often appreciated that recommendations which are believed to be 'new' in ICRP Publication 26 had already been made in ICRP Publication 9 more than ten years earlier. In any event, ICRP Publication 26 has had a substantial impact on regulatory work in countries all over the world. It forms the basis for the Basic Safety Standards of the international organizations IAEA, ILO, OECD/NEA and WHO. The paper refers to the experience gained in using the new ICRP recommendations over the five years that have passed since ICRP Publication 26 was adopted and discusses some of the problems that have arisen in the practical application of the new recommendations in various countries. (author)

Psychosocial Adjustment to Sex Reassignment Surgery: A Qualitative Examination and Personal Experiences of Six Transsexual Persons in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nataša Jokić-Begić

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In Croatia, transgender individuals face numerous social and medical obstacles throughout the process of transition. The aim of this study was to depict the factors contributing to the psychosocial adjustment of six transsexual individuals living in Croatia following sex reassignment surgery (SRS. A combination of quantitative and qualitative self-report methods was used. Due to the specificity of the sample, the data were collected online. Standardized questionnaires were used to assess mental health and quality of life alongside a series of open-ended questions divided into 4 themes: the decision-making process regarding SRS; social and medical support during the SRS process; experience of discrimination and stigmatizing behaviors; psychosocial adjustment after SRS. Despite the unfavorable circumstances in Croatian society, participants demonstrated stable mental, social, and professional functioning, as well as a relative resilience to minority stress. Results also reveal the role of pretransition factors such as high socioeconomic status, good premorbid functioning, and high motivation for SRS in successful psychosocial adjustment. During and after transition, participants reported experiencing good social support and satisfaction with the surgical treatment and outcomes. Any difficulties reported by participants are related to either sexual relationships or internalized transphobia. The results also demonstrate the potentially protective role that a lengthier process of transition plays in countries such as Croatia.

Development of commodity exchange in Croatia

OpenAIRE

Sicel, Mladen

2009-01-01

Purpose of this thesis work is to show relevance and necessarity for existing of commodity exchange and it’s influence to the economy of Croatia. Because eastern part of Croatia, region called Slavonia is mostly agricultural oriented, it is of essential relevance to establish and make operate of first commodity exchange in Croatia.

The safeguards on-site laboratory at Sellafield. Five years operational experience

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duinslaeger, L.; Belle, P. van; Mayer, K.; Casteleyn, K.; Abousahl, S.; Daures, P.; Eberle, H.; Enright, T.; Guiot, A.; Hild, M.; Horta Domenech, J.; Lajarge, P.; Laurent, P.; Le Terrier, A.; Lynch, B.; Marucci, M.; Millet, S.; Ottmar, H.; Richir, P.; Street, S.; Vallet, P.; Zuleger, E. [European Commission, Karlsruhe (Germany). Inst. for Transuranium Elements

2004-06-01

The start of operation of the large reprocessing facilities led Euratom Safeguards to a new approach for verification analysis of samples taken at the facility: the installation of on-site laboratories. The availability of analytical capabilities for independent verification measurements at the site of these facilities offers obvious advantages in view of timeliness of results. The 'On-Site Laboratory' (OSL) at the BNFL Sellafield site was the first ever and entered into operation in 1999. For almost five years, the Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) has been operating the laboratory under routine conditions. During this period, more than one thousand safeguards samples were analysed. The experience gained in the management, logistics and operation of the OSL allow a critical review based on a significant period in time. This includes also aspects of training of staff, maintenance of equipment, flow of information, and improvements in the efficiency. The analytical issues are of key importance: based on the operational experience, the measurement methods were adapted (changing boundary conditions), the distribution of samples according to material type changed (start up of MOS fabrication plant), and the cutback in resources triggered a further streamlining of the analytical efforts. (orig.)

Early Childhood Inclusion in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Ljubešic, Marta; Šimleša, Sanja

2016-01-01

This article explains early childhood inclusion in Croatia from its beginnings up to challenges in current policy and practice. The first preschool education for children with disabilities dates back to the 1980s and was provided in special institutions. In the last 10 years, mainstream kindergartens have been enrolling children with disabilities…

Risks/Needs of Children/Youth with Behavior Disorders in Correctional Institutions in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Ratkajec, Gabrijela; Jedud, Ivana

2010-01-01

Previous research and experience in Croatia show that interventions are not matched with the risk level and intervention needs of children with behavior disorders. As a result of that, the situation in Croatia requires actuarial approach to the risks and needs assessment of children and youth. The purpose of the current research is to put stronger…

The determinants of exchange rate in Croatia

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Manuel BENAZIC

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The dilemma for every country with an independent monetary policy is which kind of exchange rate arrangement should be applied. Through the exchange rate policy, countries can influence their economies, i.e. price stability and export competiveness. Croatia is a new EU member state, it has its own monetary policy and currency but it is on the way to euro introduction. Regarding the experiences from the beginning of the 1990s when Croatia was faced with serious monetary instabilities and hyperinflation, the goal of Croatian National Bank (CNB is to ensure price stability and one way to do so is through exchange rate policy. Croatia, as a small and open economy, has applied a managed floating exchange rate regime. The exchange rate is determined primarily by the foreign exchange supply and demand on the foreign exchange market, with occasional market interventions by the CNB. Therefore, in order to maintain exchange rate stability, policymakers must be able to recognize how changes in these factors affect changes in the exchange rate. This research aims to find a relationship among the main sources of foreign currency inflow and outflow and the level of exchange rate in Croatia. The analysis is carried out by using the bounds testing (ARDL approach for co-integration. The results indicate the existence of a stable co-integration relationship between the observed variables, whereby an increase in the majority of variables leads to an exchange rate appreciation.

Ochratoxin A Contamination of Food from Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Peraica, Maja; Flajs, Dubravka; Domijan, Ana-Marija; Ivić, Dario; Cvjetković, Bogdan

2010-01-01

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a mycotoxin with nephrotoxic, genotoxic and carcinogenic properties produced by Penicillium and Aspergillus moulds under different climatic conditions. Humans and animals are exposed to this compound mainly via ingestion of contaminated food. In Croatia, research on mycotoxins focused on OTA when the mycotoxin theory of endemic nephropathy (EN) was postulated. Ochratoxin A was more frequent and at higher concentration in foods from EN than those from the control regions. Subsequently, OTA concentrations were determined in some commodities intended for human consumption such as maize, wheat, beans and wine. Samples from all parts of Croatia were analyzed and OTA was found in all types of commodities. It was frequently found together with other mycotoxins (fumonisin B1, fumonisin B2 and zearalenone). In general, OTA concentration in foods from Croatia is low, but the frequency of positive samples shows considerable variations from year to year depending also on sampling location. Although low levels of OTA were found in a large proportion of analyzed food samples, its persistent co-occurrence with other significant mycotoxins should raise serious public health concerns as there interactions may be synergistic or additive in causing toxicity in humans and animals. There is need to establish control measures through which such contaminations in foods can be managed. PMID:22069674

Radioactivity of tap water in the Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cesar, D.; Maracic, M.; Franic, Z.; Kovac, J.

1994-01-01

The purpose of the paper was to establish the difference between radioactivity level measured in tap water in relation to maximum permissible concentrations determined by law in the Republic of Croatia. Tables 1 and 2 give percentages of total beta activity in tap water of several cities in Croatia and Table 3 of 137 Cs, 3 H and 90 Sr specific activities, in relation to permissible levels. On basis of these data it could be concluded that total beta activity has exponentially decreased over the past 30 years and radioactivity in tape water of Croatia has never exceeded permissible levels. Taking in account possible hazards to human health that might be caused by the presence of radioactivity in water, this kind of investigation should be continued also in the future

Five years of operating experience with Phenix

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conte, F.

1980-01-01

The construction of Phenix began at the end of 1968; the unit first went critical on August 31 st, 1973, and it was first connected to the grid of Electricite de France on 31st December 1973. It started operating industrially on July 14th, 1974. The balance sheet after five years of operations is as follows: Gross thermal capacity: 590 MW; Grosss electric capacity: 264 MW; Gross capacity factor of the power station: 45%; Gross electrical power produced by 30th september 1979: more than six billion kWh. In 1976 and 1977 the operation of the plant was affected by modifications made to the intermediate heat exchangers following leaks discovered in October 1976. Since 1976 the plants has been working at full capacity and the availability rate during the period July 1978 - July 1979 was more than 80% [fr

First molecular analysis of West Nile virus during the 2013 outbreak in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurolt, Ivan C; Krajinović, Vladimir; Topić, Antea; Kuzman, Ilija; Baršić, Bruno; Markotić, Alemka

2014-08-30

This is the second subsequent year of West Nile neuroinvasive disease (WNND) outbreak in Croatia. Between July and October 2013, 22 patients presented with symptoms of WNND: all with meningitis and 18 additionally with encephalitis. In contrast to 2012, where six autochthonous infections were confirmed in eastern Croatia, the majority of this year's cases occurred in and around the city of Zagreb, where no West Nile virus infections have been observed before. Viral RNA was recovered from two patients and phylogenetic analyses revealed West Nile virus lineage 2. This represents the first molecular characterization and phylogenetic analysis of the circulating West Nile virus strain in Croatia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Franchising in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandar Erceg

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Franchising is the practice where a company (franchisor gives a licence to use its trade name (brand and its business model (know-how to a particular person or group (franchisee who agrees to act in accordance with the terms and conditions of a franchise agreement. Many different types of franchise can be found in research and practice. There are two theories explaining the reasons for using franchising: agency theory and resource scarcity theory. Franchising has a major impact on the world economy. In Croatia, franchising is in the early stage of development and there is a need to encourage businesses to expand this business model as a way of developing and expanding business (franchisor or starting a new business (franchisee. This paper is divided in two parts. The first part deals with the franchising (definition, theoretical framework and franchising in Croatia, while the second part gives an example of a franchising business in Croatia.

Irritable bowel syndrome in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Grubić, Petra; Jurcić, Dragan; Ebling, Barbara; Gmajnić, Rudika; Nikolić, Bojana; Pribić, Sanda; Bilić, Ante; Levak, Maja Tolusić

2014-06-01

There are three epidemiological studies of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) that were conducted in Croatia (in the area of Zagreb in 2002, Bjelovarsko-bilogorska County in 2008, and finally in Osjecko-baranjska County in 2011). The aim of this study is to analyze the anthropometric, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of IBS in Croatia comparing these three studies. The studies included a questionnaire based on Rome criteria. Study population matched the adult population of Croatia according last available census (1991, 2001 resp.). Studies showed a high prevalence of IBS and some common factors relevant for development of IBS were determined such as gender, body mass index and lower level of education. There is a need for further investigations in coastal Croatia applying a uniform questionnaire on anthropometric, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of IBS and Rome III criteria, diagnostic questionnaires and scoring algorithm for functional gastrointestinal disorders developed by Rome Foundation applicable in clinical practice and population studies, regarding the significant high prevalence of IBS in our country.

Employment protection legislation in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Kunovac

2014-06-01

Full Text Available According to business climate and competitiveness indicators published by international organisations, Croatia is a country with a rigid labour market and a high level of the legal protection of employees. Given that an Act on Amendments to the Labour Act (OG 73/13 entered into force in Croatia in June 2013, this paper examines changes in employment protection legislation in Croatia and Central and Eastern European (CEE countries, as well as in Croatia's main trading partners during the period between 2008 and 2013. A cross-country comparison shows a strong downward trend in legal employment protection in most CEE countries during the observed period, primarily as concerns individual dismissal in the cases of regular employment contracts, while in the case of temporary employment the protection strengthened slightly. On the other hand, despite the adoption of amendments to the Labour Act (LA, Croatian labour legislation governing employment protection for regular employment contracts remains relatively inflexible compared to that in other countries.

PREVALENCE OF SALMONELLA IN CAPTIVE REPTILES FROM CROATIA.

Science.gov (United States)

Lukac, Maja; Pedersen, Karl; Prukner-Radovcic, Estella

2015-06-01

Salmonellosis transmitted by pet reptiles is an increasing public health issue worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Salmonella strains from captive reptiles in Croatia. From November 2009 to November 2011 a total of 292 skin, pharyngeal, cloacal, and fecal samples from 200 apparently healthy reptiles were tested for Salmonella excretions by bacteriologic culture and serotyping. These 200 individual reptiles included 31 lizards, 79 chelonians, and 90 snakes belonging to private owners or housed at the Zagreb Zoo, Croatia. Salmonella was detected in a total of 13% of the animals, among them 48.4% lizards, 8.9% snakes, and 3.8% turtles. Representatives of five of the six Salmonella enterica subspecies were identified with the following proportions in the total number of isolates: Salmonella enterica enterica 34.6%, Salmonella enterica houtenae 23.1%, Salmonella enterica arizonae 23.1%, Salmonella enterica diarizonae 15.4%, and Salmonella enterica salamae 3.8%. The 14 different serovars isolated included several rarely occurring serovars such as Salmonella Apapa, Salmonella Halle, Salmonella Kisarawe, and Salmonella Potengi. These findings confirm that the prevalence of Salmonella is considerable in captive reptiles in Croatia, indicating that these animals may harbor serovars not commonly seen in veterinary or human microbiologic practice. This should be addressed in the prevention and diagnostics of human reptile-transmitted infections.

Characteristics of Student Employment in Croatia

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Ivana Čavar

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The article deals with student term-time employment in Croatia, causes of its growing prevalence, its patterns and legal regulation, and finally its effects on the higher education system and labour market. Overview of the theories on combining work and study singled out few relevant factors determining motivations of students for engaging in term-time employment and employment's different academic and professional outcomes, mainly related to the massification of higher education phenomenon (higher number of students and their greater diversity, youth unemployment, and questionable college degree relevance. Although conducted on non-systematic data, gathered from previous research of student population in Croatia and EUROSTUDENT international research on the quality of student life, analysis carried out in this article showed the occurrence of higher education massification and its influence on student employment, especially in the fields of social sciences and humanities. Croatian students' motivations for term-time employment are mainly a wish to improve their living standard and a need for work experience, while their average workload is of low to medium intensity, usually on jobs not at all related to their future profession. Apart from presenting the practice of student work use, this article also gives an overview of its legal regulation in Croatia, and examples of its misuse, i.e., negative implications it may have on student and regular workers.

Time for Competent Decisions on Radioactive Waste Management in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knapp, A.; Levanat, I.; Saponja-Milutinovic, D.; Lokner, V.

2013-01-01

After a couple of decades of hesitant and indecisive consultations between Slovenia and Croatia on the management options for the Krsko nuclear power plant (KNPP) waste, time for decision making has approached. Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom requires that both countries adopt specific national programs for radioactive waste and spent fuel management before August 23, 2015. In the nineties, Croatia undertook a campaign aimed at constructing a low and intermediate level waste (LILW) repository. The region of Trgovska gora was designated as the potential repository site, and a preliminary safety assessment indicated that it was suitable for a near surface vault-type disposal facility - but then the campaign was stopped. Soon after, Slovenia intensified preparations for a LILW repository on its territory, and Krsko (near the NPP) was selected for disposal site. An exotic and expensive silo-type disposal concept was adopted, disposal units immersed into the groundwater flowing towards the nearby Sava river. The project continues. Presently, however, Croatia does not know whether it will be allowed to dispose of its share of LILW from the KNPP into the Slovenian repository, nor under what conditions. Croatia does not know whether it will have to build its own repository, nor whether such solution would be financially preferable - although Croatia may have to begin transferring its half of the KNPP waste to its territory in less than ten years. It is therefore high time for Croatia to resume intensive preparations for the establishment of a LILW repository on Trgovska gora - regardless of whether or not it would actually be constructed. Without such preparations, and the insights gained, Croatia will not be capable of making competent decisions about its national interests regarding the KNPP waste management, nor will it be prepared for competent and convincing negotiations with Slovenia about the options for sharing the Krsko facility.(author)

Regional Development and Social Indicators in Croatia

OpenAIRE

Željko Lovrin?evi?; Davor Mikuli?

2012-01-01

This report, Regional Development and Social Indicators in Croatia, provides a comprehensive profile of social and economic characteristics of Croatia's regions as well as profiling the Government s social transfers to households. Demographic and economic structure of Croatian economy is analyzed, as well as the process of secondary distribution of income in Croatia on the regional level. ...

Comparing Socialist and Post-Socialist Television Culture. Fifty Years of Television in Croatia

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Zrinjka Peruško

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This article builds a theoretical model for comparative analysis of media culture based on the notion of genre, and applies it to a comparative analysis of television as a cultural form in socialist and post-socialist Croatia. The paper explores how the shares and generic composition of program modes of information, entertainment and fiction change in time, and how the contribution of different genres to program flow and modes varies with the changes of political, economic and technological context. Longitudinal trends in television flows are comparatively evaluated in relation to trends in genre developments in Europe and their relationship to the changes in the cultural role of television. The results show a decrease in the information and an increase in the fiction mode between socialism and democracy, with some similarities of the Croatian and western television culture in relation to genre and mode composition and flow, albeit with a belated introduction of neo television genres. Notwithstanding the limited freedom of expression and ideological content, which necessarily influenced socialist media culture, television as a cultural form in Croatia developed in concert with the global program flows. The article is based on original content analysis of television schedules where the unit of analysis is a televisions program listing. The analogue television universe is represented by longitudinal data for 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989, 1999, and 2009. The stratified systematic sample (N=3934 for each chosen year consists of two constructed weeks from a universe of all listed programs broadcast on all free to air television channels with a national reach license.

Cost-effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccination in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Vučina, V Višekruna; Filipović, S Kurečić; Kožnjak, N; Stamenić, V; Clark, A D; Mounaud, B; Blau, J; Hoestlandt, C; Kaić, B

2015-05-07

Pneumococcus is a known cause of meningitis, pneumonia, sepsis, and acute otitis media in children and adults globally. Two new vaccines for children have the potential to prevent illness, disability, and death, but these vaccines are expensive. The Croatian Ministry of Health has considered introducing the vaccine in the past, but requires economic evidence to ensure that the limited funds available for health care will be used in the most effective way. Croatia appointed a multidisciplinary team of experts to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of introducing pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV) into the national routine child immunization program. Both 10-valent and 13-valent PCV (PCV10 and PCV13) were compared to a scenario assuming no vaccination. The TRIVAC decision-support model was used to estimate cost-effectiveness over the period 2014-2033. We used national evidence on demographics, pneumococcal disease incidence and mortality, the age distribution of disease in children, health service utilization, vaccine coverage, vaccine timeliness, and serotype coverage. Vaccine effectiveness was based on evidence from the scientific literature. Detailed health care costs were not available from the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance at the time of the analysis so assumptions and World Health Organization (WHO) estimates for Croatia were used. We assumed a three-dose primary vaccination schedule, and an initial price of US$ 30 per dose for PCV10 and US$ 35 per dose for PCV13. We ran univariate sensitivity analyses and multivariate scenario analyses. Either vaccine is estimated to prevent approximately 100 hospital admissions and one death each year in children younger than five in Croatia. Compared to no vaccine, the discounted cost-effectiveness of either vaccine is estimated to be around US$ 69,000-77,000 per disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) averted over the period 2014-2033 (from the government or societal perspective). Only two alternative scenarios

Research of private label development in Croatia

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Sandra Horvat

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Private labels have been present on the market since 19th century but their intensive market growth began in the last thirty years after retailers realized what their potential could be in the fight against ever-growing competition. Their market growth has not been distributed equally thought the world so Europe became the region with the highest private label market share, which exceeds 40% on some markets. Although the private label market share in Croatia is considerably smaller, it has also increased steadily over the last decade since private labels were introduced on the market. This paper presents the findings of a research conducted for the purpose of identifying trends in private label development on the Croatian market. The research was conducted through in-depth interviews with private label managers in retail companies in Croatia, and with the managers responsible for private label production in manufacturing companies. The research identified three expected trends of private label development in Croatia and these are: an increase in private label quality, the maintenance of a price gap between private labels and manufacturers’ brands and a further increase in the private label market share.

Constitutional framework of the process of decentralization and public administration reform in Serbia and Croatia

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Čiplić Svetozar M.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The work is devoted to the comparative analyze of the processes of the decentralization reorganization and reform of the public administration at the level of the horizontal governance organization in Serbia and Croatia. At the first part of the work the authors analyze the decentralization and devolution as well as their demarcation in the sense of their related but not similar meanings. The second part is devoted to the historical experiences and genesis foundations of the common state where Serbia and Croatia were joined. The particular historical developments of Serbia and Croatia influenced the present attitude of their political elites toward decentralization. The third, final part/conclusion, is dedicated to a comparative analyses of the constitutional solutions in Serbia and Croatia which are related to the vertical organization. .

Retrospective Evaluation of the Five-Year and Ten-Year CSEP-Italy Earthquake Forecasts

OpenAIRE

Werner, M. J.; Zechar, J. D.; Marzocchi, W.; Wiemer, S.

2010-01-01

On 1 August 2009, the global Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP) launched a prospective and comparative earthquake predictability experiment in Italy. The goal of the CSEP-Italy experiment is to test earthquake occurrence hypotheses that have been formalized as probabilistic earthquake forecasts over temporal scales that range from days to years. In the first round of forecast submissions, members of the CSEP-Italy Working Group presented eighteen five-year and ten...

Doing Business 2014 Economy Profile : Croatia

OpenAIRE

World Bank; International Finance Corporation

2013-01-01

This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Croatia. In a series of annual reports, Doing Business assesses regulations affecting domestic firms in 189 economies and ranks the economies in 10 areas of business regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency and trading across borders. This year's report data cover regulations measured from June 2012 throug...

Efforts in improvement of nuclear knowledge and information management in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pleslic, S.; Novosel, N.

2004-01-01

the purpose of promoting and developing scientific, educational and cultural activities in the field of radiation protection and related fields of science. The aim of the Croatian Nuclear Society is to improve science and procedures by the peaceful use of nuclear sciences, technologies, and the appropriate security, as well as to introduce the public with the need and specialities of using nuclear technology. The Croatian Society of Nuclear Medicine and the Croatian Energy Association work with similar goals as previous societies: to improve the general knowledge in society of the benefits of nuclear science and technology and their applications in related fields; to promote all scientific and professional activities by organization and participation on international meetings and conferences; to work on popularisation of nuclear science, its results and applications through organization of popular lectures, editing of publications and participation in manifestations of broader social importance. Croatian Young Generation Network (YGN) as a part of Croatian Nuclear Society was founded in 1999 with goals of attracting young people, education and training of the young experts, knowledge and experience transition between the generations, international contacts and engagement in the international projects, encouraging young experts to join conferences, workshops and seminars, students involvement in the YGN activities and popularisation of the nuclear studies among the students. During almost 10 years Croatian membership in INIS was established as a decentralized system following in this way the INIS philosophy. This decentralized approach to input and output was selected because it represents the most comprehensive coverage of nuclear literature including effective handling of information and the most satisfactory services for users of the INIS Database (DB). Since 1994 input submitting in Croatia was continuous with significant increase of input records satisfying in the

SOME INDICATORS OF HEALTH CARE STATUS IN CROATIA.

Science.gov (United States)

Puntarić, Dinko; Stašević, Ina; Ropac, Darko; Poljičanin, Tamara; Mayer, Dijana

2015-03-01

The article presents the basic principles of health care, health care measures and strategic objectives of these measures in Croatia. The health of the population does not depend solely on the activities of the health care system but also on various demographic indicators. Our success in implementing health care depends largely on the structure of health facilities and health workers. The Croatian health system in late 2013 had permanently employed 74,489 workers. Out of these, 77% were health care workers. Most health care workers had only secondary school education (37.7%); physicians represented 17.4% of the workforce. On assessing the health of the population, certain health indicators are of utmost importance. The leading cause of deaths were circulatory diseases (in 2012, 24,988 persons died, 585.5/100,000). Neoplasms were the cause of death in 13,940 persons (326.6/100,000), then injuries and poisoning (69.1/100,000), diseases of the gastrointestinal system (53.1/100,000), and respiratory diseases (50.4/100,000). Data are presented on the basis of diseases reported from several national registries (cancer, psychoactive drug abuse, the disabled, diabetes, and suicides). The importance of vaccination for the control of infectious diseases in Croatia is especially emphasized, as well as the experience and excellent results achieved in this area. The epidemiological situation in Croatia in terms of infectious diseases can be assessed as favorable. This is due to the general living conditions, which contributed to the entire health system, making Croatia equal to other developed countries of Europe and throughout the world.

Environmental performance reviews. Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-01-01

The Environmental Performance Review of Croatia began with the preparatory mission in June 1998. This report was prepared on the basis of the team's review mission to Croatia in March 1999. Its draft was submitted to the ECE Committee on Environmental Policy at its annual session in Geneva on 22 September 1999. A high-level delegation from Croatia attended this evaluation, which was prepared in-depth by two reviewing countries, the Netherlands and Slovakia. At the end of its evaluation, the Committee approved the recommendations as set out in this report. The review of Croatia's environmental performance identified a number of strengths and weaknesses in the implementation of environmental policy and management. The systematic and professional preparation of environmental management measures in the State Directorate for the Protection of Nature and the Environment is often impressive. However, their implementation and enforcement suffer from a lack of institutional weight and cooperation throughout State institutions. Therefore, improving the cooperation with all key partners is an important task. Furthermore, greater involvement of the general public in environmental management might help to strengthen the overall recognition and results of environmental management. Finally, the review also found impediments to better performance with regard to remediation of the environmental consequences of the war - a problem that can be successfully dealt with only if sufficient funds are allocated for that work

Secular trends in monthly heating and cooling demands in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Cvitan, Lidija; Sokol Jurković, Renata

2016-08-01

This paper analyzes long-term heating and cooling trends for five locations in Croatia from 1901 to 2008 to assist in the revision of Croatia's heating and cooling energy policy. Trends in monthly heating degree-days (HDD) and cooling degree-days (CDD) were determined for three related temperature threshold values each and analyzed to provide insight into the influence of desired thermal comfort on the extent of changes in energy consumption. Monthly trends in the corresponding number of heating days (HD) and cooling days (CD) were also analyzed. A basic investigation of HDD, HD, CDD, and CD trends proved to be essential to the development of a complete description of important climate-related conditions that impact energy demands associated with heating and cooling. In a few cases, the dependence of the trends on the implemented temperature thresholds was rather pronounced and was reflected in great spatial and temporal variations in monthly trends. The statistical significance of the detected monthly trends illustrated a diverse range of possible impacts of climate changes on heating and cooling energy consumption both across and within three main climate regions in Croatia (continental, mountainous, and maritime). It is confirmed that the applied monthly scale for analyses is suitable for assessing heating and cooling practices.

E-marketing of Humanitarian Organizations in the Republic of Croatia

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Stojanka Dukić

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The early 21st century marked the start of a new era in which information and communications technologies have played a key role. Owing to these technologies, a large part of the physical processes has moved into a virtual environment. As a result, there is a noticeable trend of ever-increasing volume of business activity carried out in the virtual environment – electronic business (e-business. In much the same way, business operations have transformed from a physical into a virtual form, so has the marketing assumed a new form called e-marketing. E-marketing is basically global; it operates 365 days a year/24 hours a day, and, in principle, uses a free resource provided by the global information infrastructure, i.e., the Internet. Businesses today have no choice but to use e-marketing. The same applies to non-profit sector to which humanitarian organizations belong. There are a large number of humanitarian organizations in the Republic of Croatia. However, these organizations are often run by people with no knowledge of marketing or management. It is therefore not surprising that as a result the production concept has been applied instead of the marketing concept. As the business environment changes, those who fail to adapt are bound for failure. This research was conducted to find an optimal model for application of e-marketing in humanitarian organizations working in the Republic of Croatia. In view of the rapid development of information and communications technologies, the model defined in this research will be viable for the next five to eight years.

National consumption of opioid and nonopioid analgesics in Croatia: 2007–2013

Science.gov (United States)

Krnic, Darko; Anic-Matic, Andrea; Dosenovic, Svjetlana; Draganic, Pero; Zezelic, Sasa; Puljak, Livia

2015-01-01

Background The increased consumption of analgesics has been documented worldwide during the last 2 decades. The aim of the study was to examine the trends in opioid and nonopioid analgesic consumption in Croatia between 2007 and 2013. Methods Data on opioid consumption were extracted from the database of the national authority. All opioid and nonopioid analgesics were included in the analysis. Data were presented as defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day. Adequacy of opioid consumption was calculated using adequacy of consumption measure. Results During the examined 7-year period, the total consumption and total cost of all analgesics in Croatia showed continuous increase. In the M01A group (anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic products, nonsteroids), ibuprofen had an exponential increasing trend, and in 2011, it overtook diclofenac consumption. Ibuprofen and diclofenac had the highest consumption also in the M02A group of topical products for joint and muscular pain. Tramadol was by far the most consumed type of opioids (N02A group) and paracetamol in the group of other analgesics and antipyretics (N02B). The adequacy of consumption measure value was 0.19, indicating that Croatia is a country with a low opioid consumption. Conclusion Between 2007 and 2013, both consumption of analgesics and their cost in Croatia had an increasing trend. Comparisons with data from other countries, based on the published literature, indicate that analgesic consumption in Croatia is still relatively low. Calculation of the adequacy of opioid consumption indicated that Croatia is a country with low opioid consumption. Further studies are necessary for establishing whether current analgesic consumption in Croatia corresponds to patient needs. PMID:26357478

Croatia : Country Procurement Assessment Report

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2005-01-01

Based on the CPAR's analysis of the legislative framework, procurement practices, institutional capacity and the opportunity for corruption, the assessment found that the environment for conducting public procurement in Croatia is average. This report makes a series of recommendations designed to strengthen the public procurement environment of Croatia, including legislative reform, improving procurement procedures and practices, institutional reform, capacity building, and the development of...

Box Tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis, Lepidoptera; Crambidae, New Invasive Insect Pest in Croatia

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Dinka Matošević

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Alien invasive species have been described as an outstanding global problem. Hundreds of species are intentionally and unintentionally moved worldwide and and numbers of introductions to new habitats have been accelerated all over the world due to the increasing mobility of people and goods over the past decades. Numerous alien insect species, many of them introduced only in the last 20 years, have become successfully established in various ecosystems in Croatia. Box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis, Lepidoptera; Crambidae is an invasive pest recently introduced to Europe causing serious damage to ornamental box (Buxus sp. shrubs and trees. The aim of this paper is to describe the biology of box tree moth with prognosis of its future spread and damages in Croatia. Material and Methods: Young larvae (first and second larval stage and adults of box tree moth were collected in August and September 2013 in Arboretum Opeka and in Varaždin. They were brought to the entomological laboratory of Croatian Forest Research Institute where they were reared to pupae and then to moths. Results and Conclusions: The box tree moth was recorded for the first time in North Croatia in August 2013. Larvae were found defoliating box plants (B. sempervirens in Arboretum Opeka, Vinica and they have been identified as C. prespectalis. According to damages it can be assumed that the pest has been introduced to the region earlier (in 2011 or 2012 and that the primary infection has not been detected. At least two generations per year could be assumed in Croatia in 2013. The damage done to box tree plants on the locality of study is serious. The plants have been defoliated, particularly in the lower parts. The defoliation reduced the amenity value of plants. This is the first record of this pest and its damages in Northern Croatia and it can be expected that the pest will rapidly spread to other parts of Croatia seriously damaging box plants

Using social networking sites (namely Facebook) in health visiting practice--an account of five years experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Dion, Xena

2015-02-01

With new developments in electronic and social networking communication methods the way health visitors communicate with clients is rapidly changing. With good governance these technologies can be utilised to enhance the health visiting service and can be an effective way of accessing hard-to-reach families, saving time and resources. This paper presents five years' experience in the use of Facebook between the health visiting team and clients and explains the benefits and potential it offers to health visitors and other community practitioners.

Energy Efficiency Labeling According to the Energy Legislative of the European Union and the Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raguzin, I.; Krstulovic, V.

2001-01-01

In the majority of developed countries, minimal standards for energy efficiency are an indispensable part of national energy policies, aiming to reduce the consumption of energy and emissions of waste. The successful integration of the Republic of Croatia into the European Union will certainly be influenced by accepting of the European norms and energy efficiency standards. The Croatian Parliament has billed a set of five acts that represent reform laws for the energy sector. As the EU membership is Croatian national objective, those acts are simultaneously adjusting Croatian legislation to European regulatory acts for that area. The Energy law provides energy efficiency labeling for producers and retailers. The paper describes, beside the EU directives for energy efficiency labeling of products, the basic approach of the Republic of Croatia to the definition of implementation regulations for labeling. Regarded are also basics of concept and practical experience of ''Energy Star'' initiative in the USA, the objective of which is to, being a support on local and federal level, facilitate the decision-making for the purchase of energy efficient products and services.(author)

Geothermal energy in Croatia and the world until 2020

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jelic, K.; Kevric, I.; Cubric, S.

1996-01-01

The use of geothermal energy in watering place, heating, the production of electric power, and for other purposes is increasing throughout the world. Over the past ten years, besides traditional production from natural thermal wells, this energy has also been produced in Croatia from geothermal wells discovered as a results of deep exploration drilling for hydrocarbons. This paper analyses the current state of geothermal energy both in the world and in Croatia, and makes projections about its immediate future. Energy potential data on the croatian part of the Panonian basin are given along with perspective locations for producing this ecologically acceptable and partially reusable energy. (author)

The experiences of women engineers who have completed one to five years of professional engineering employment: A phenomenological study

Science.gov (United States)

White, Susan M.

Women engineers remain underrepresented in employment in engineering fields in the United States. Feminist theory views this gender disparity beyond equity in numbers for women engineers and looks at structural issues of women's access, opportunities, and quality of experience in the workplace. Research on women's success and persistence in engineering education is diverse; however, there are few studies that focus on the early years of women's careers in engineering and less using a phenomenological research design. Experiences of women engineers who have completed one to five years of professional engineering employment are presented using a phenomenological research design. Research questions explored the individual and composite experiences for the co-researchers of the study as well as challenges and advantages of the phenomenon of having completed one to five years of professional engineering employment. Themes that emanated from the data were a feeling that engineering is a positive profession, liking math and science from an early age, having experiences of attending math and science camps or learning and practicing engineering interests with their fathers for some co-researchers. Other themes included a feeling of being different as a woman in the engineering workplace, taking advantage of opportunities for training, education, and advancement to further their careers, and the role of informal and formal mentoring in developing workplace networks and engineering expertise. Co-researchers negotiated issues of management quality and support, experiences of gender discrimination in the workplace, and having to make decisions balancing their careers and family responsibilities. Finally, the women engineers for this research study expressed intentions to persist in their careers while pursuing expertise and experience in their individual engineering fields.

The Economic Effects of Croatia's Accession to the EU

OpenAIRE

Lejour, Arjan Marcel; Mervar, Andrea; Verweij, Gerard

2008-01-01

We explore the economic implications of Croatia's possible accession to the European Union. We focus on two main changes associated with the EU-membership: accession to the internal European Market and institutional reforms in Croatia triggered by the EU-membership. GDP per capita in Croatia is estimated to rise by about 1.1 percent as a result of accession to the internal market. In particular the textile and wearing apparel sectors expand. If Croatia succeeds in reforming its domestic insti...

National consumption of opioid and nonopioid analgesics in Croatia: 2007–2013

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Krnic D

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Darko Krnic,1 Andrea Anic-Matic,2 Svjetlana Dosenovic,2 Pero Draganic,1 Sasa Zezelic,1 Livia Puljak2 1Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices, Zagreb, 2Laboratory for Pain Research, School of Medicine, University of Split, Split, Croatia Background: The increased consumption of analgesics has been documented worldwide during the last 2 decades. The aim of the study was to examine the trends in opioid and nonopioid analgesic consumption in Croatia between 2007 and 2013. Methods: Data on opioid consumption were extracted from the database of the national authority. All opioid and nonopioid analgesics were included in the analysis. Data were presented as defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day. Adequacy of opioid consumption was calculated using adequacy of consumption measure. Results: During the examined 7-year period, the total consumption and total cost of all analgesics in Croatia showed continuous increase. In the M01A group (anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic products, nonsteroids, ibuprofen had an exponential increasing trend, and in 2011, it overtook diclofenac consumption. Ibuprofen and diclofenac had the highest consumption also in the M02A group of topical products for joint and muscular pain. Tramadol was by far the most consumed type of opioids (N02A group and paracetamol in the group of other analgesics and antipyretics (N02B. The adequacy of consumption measure value was 0.19, indicating that Croatia is a country with a low opioid consumption. Conclusion: Between 2007 and 2013, both consumption of analgesics and their cost in Croatia had an increasing trend. Comparisons with data from other countries, based on the published literature, indicate that analgesic consumption in Croatia is still relatively low. Calculation of the adequacy of opioid consumption indicated that Croatia is a country with low opioid consumption. Further studies are necessary for establishing whether current analgesic consumption in

Peer Evaluation of Oral Presentations in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Kovac, Mirjana Matea; Sirkovic, Nina

2012-01-01

This paper aims to explore student engagement in peer evaluation activities related to giving scientific presentations in English (L2) and to investigate student attitudes towards this form of evaluation in the course Communication skills in Croatian (L1). The participants in this study were first-year students of engineering in Split, Croatia.…

Population Ageing in Rural Settlements in the Republic of Croatia

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Ivo Nejašmić

2016-08-01

Full Text Available One of the basic demographic characteristics of Croatia is the inherited dispersed population density with a large number of small settlements and the undeveloped system of regional and micro-regional centres. Such settlement structure was entirely inappropriate in the conditions of accelerated and urban-based industrialization after the Second World War. This period was characterised by a mass transition of agricultural population into non-agricultural activities, along with the abandonment of rural settlements. In addition to the strong emigration from rural areas in which younger age groups participated for the most part, there was a continuous reduction in fertility, too. All this has led to the narrowing of young age groups and consequently to the increase in the proportion of the elderly. An important factor of demographic ageing is the reduction in mortality of persons over 30 years of age and longer life respectively. Life expectancy of the Croatian population was 64.8 years in 1960 and 77.2 years in 1972. The average age constantly increased: it was 32.5 years in 1961, 35.4 in 1981 and it reached the high 41.7 years in 2011. The aggression and war against Croatia happened in the 1990s. Dramatic events affected the general social conditions and processes, strongly accelerating negative demographic trends. All this had further affected the socio-demographically eroded rural areas. There was a particularly difficult situation in the regions directly affected by the war; part of these areas had had the features of extreme demographic regression before the war sufferings and the war only further strengthened it. The overall population of Croatia is characterised by decreasing fertility, natural depopulation (negative natural change, total depopulation (since 1990 and intense population ageing. The duration and intensity of these processes clearly testifies to the demographic development of Croatia being very unfavourable. All this also

THE STATE OF BEEKEEPING IN CROATIA

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Lidija Svečnjak

2009-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper analysis of beekeeping conditions, number and distribution of beekeepers and honeybee colonies, annual colony losses as well as honey production, export, import and consumption are given. Beekeeping in Croatia has a long tradition. In comparison to pasture potential and necessity for pollination of cultivated and wild plants, present beekeeping is inadequately developed and distributed in different regions. According to data of the Croatian Livestock Center (2008 there are 313 978 honeybee colonies registered in the 2007 in Croatia on professional and sideline apiaries. The majority of honeybee colonies is placed in Pannonian region with 238 300 (76%, second in representation is in Mediterranean region with 59 763 (19% and less represented is in Mountain region with 15 915 (5% honeybee colonies. Yearly honey production is approximately 5 000 t and 2 000 t of national honey consumption (0.4 kg per capita gives possibility for honey export. Croatia exported 1 051 in 2003, but 274 t of honey in 2007, which indicates on significant export decreasing trend. Normal 10 % of winter colony losses till 2007 increased in 2007/2008 on 55 615 (41.71 % in Pannonian region, 13 892 (37.46 % in Mediterranean and 5 359 (32.71 % in Mountain region. There is a need to make beekeeping much more flexible to fit into an integrated agricultural system, as well as more oriented to the consumers’ demands, to be able to increase competitiveness.

Analysis of leadership styles in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Udovčić

2014-10-01

Full Text Available During the last two decades, leadership has become the focus of intense interest and research by scientists and theorists. A large number of leadership models have been developed in order to define and enable a certain level of business flexibility that is crucial for survival in a new business environment characterized by frequent market changes, growing global competition and technology development together with demographic changes of employees. This paper aims to determine the dominant leadership style in organizations in Croatia. For the purpose of this paper, empirical research was conducted with the goal of defining the leadership styles of top and middle management of 205 active organizations in Croatia. The research was based on the leadership model developed and established by Rensis Likert. An analysis of leadership styles variables showed that there is a distinguished leadership style in organizations in Croatia. Furthermore, there is an empirically distinguished leadership style concerning the size of the organizations, ownership type and the branches of activity of the organizations in Croatia.

PRODUCTION OF POULTRY MEAT AND EGGS IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA AND IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davor Bošnjaković

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Poultry meat and eggs are a significant source of nutrients in the human diet. Poultry products are widely consumed because they are nutritionally valuable, there are no religious restrictions on consumption, it is relatively easy to prepare diverse meals based on poultry, and the price of such products is relatively low. The aim of this research was to investigate the development of poultry production in the Republic of Croatia in the period 2010-2014, comprising the period of two years after Croatia joined the EU. The paper also compares data of poultry production in Croatia and in the EU. Over the period in question, total meat production in Croatia was reduced by 23%, meat import was increased by 45%, poultry meat export was increased by 46%, and production of eggs decreased by 20%. At the same time, in the EU countries poultry production was increased by 8.8% on average, export was increased by 10%, and import was reduced by 3.7%, while the egg production stagnated. In 2014, consumption of poultry meat in Croatia was 18.3 kg per capita, and in the EU 26.8 kg per capita. Self-sufficiency in the poultry production over the analyzed period was not satisfactory, therefore in the coming years, Croatia will have to develop quickly this important branch of livestock breeding. In addition to conventional production, faster development refers to production of organic and functional poultry products.

Checklist of the earthworm fauna of Croatia (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Kutuzović, Davorka Hackenberger; Kutuzović, Branimir Hackenberger

2013-01-01

A checklist of the Croatian earthworm fauna (Oligochaeta: Lumbricidae) is presented, including published records and authors' personal data. This is the first checklist for Croatia only, with comprehensive information for each earthworm species regarding ecological category, habitat, distribution type and distribution in Croatia. The currently known earthworm fauna of Croatia comprises 68 species belonging to 17 genera, with Octodrilus being the species-richest genus (15 species). Chorologically these species can be allocated to 13 different types of distribution. Nineteen species are endemic of which 10 species are endemic to Croatia and 9 species are endemic to Croatia and neighbouring countries (Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, and Montenegro). The endemic earthworms are distributed in the areas of higher altitudes in the Continental and Alpine biogeographic region, mostly covered with forest or autochtonous vegetation.

The Chernobyl accident - five years later

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueck, K.

1991-06-01

At the fifth anniversary of the Chernobyl accident the initial situation at that time, the control of the consequences to Austria in the present light, as well as the knowledge gained from the accident and its consequences are described. A final estimate and appraisal of the total population dose by the accident alloted according to the individual exposure pathways and the dose reductions due to countermeasures by the authorities are given. The dose reduction in the following years is described. Five years later the external exposure was reduced to about 6 % of the values of the first year, the ingestion dose to about 5 % of the first-year-values. Finally, the current radiation situation is described and the dose contribution by foodstuff with elevated activity concentration is estimated. Also the consequences from the experience and knowledge obtained by the accident are described. (author)

Development of river sediment monitoring in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Frančišković-Bilinski, Stanislav; Bilinski, Halka; Mlakar, Marina; Maldini, Krešimir

2017-04-01

Establishment of regular river sediment monitoring, in addition to water monitoring, is very important. Unlike water, which represents the current state of a particular watercourse, sediment represents a sort of record of the state of pollution in the long run. Sediment monitoring is crucial to gain a real insight into the status of pollution of particular watercourses and to determine trends over a longer period of time. First scientific investigations of river sediment geochemistry in Croatia started 1989 in the Krka River estuary [1], while first systematic research of a river basin in Croatia was performed 2005 in Kupa River drainage basin [2]. Up to now, several detailed studies of both toxic metals and organic pollutants have been conducted in this drainage basin and some other rivers, also Croatian scientists participated in river sediment research in other countries. In 2008 Croatian water authorities (Hrvatske Vode) started preliminary sediment monitoring program, what was successfully conducted. In the first year of preliminary program only 14 stations existed, while in 2014 number of stations increased to 21. Number of monitored watercourses and of analysed parameters also increased. Current plan is to establish permanent monitoring network of river sediments throughout the state. The goal is to set up about 80 stations, which will cover all most important and most contaminated watercourses in all parts of the country [3]. Until the end of the year 2016, regular monitoring was conducted at 31 stations throughout the country. Currently the second phase of sediment monitoring program is in progress. At the moment parameters being determined on particular stations are not uniform. From inorganic compounds it is aimed to determine Cd, Pb, Ni, Hg, Cu, Cr, Zn and As on all stations. The ratio of natural concentrations of those elements vs. anthropogenic influence is being evaluated on all stations. It was found that worse situation is with Ni, Hg and Cr, who

First insights into the molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in Croatia during a three-year period, 2009 to 2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Zmak, Ljiljana; Obrovac, Mihaela; Katalinic Jankovic, Vera

2014-02-01

Mycobacterium tuberculosis still represents a serious cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the transmission rate and genetic lineages of M. tuberculosis circulating in Croatia during a 3-y period, between 2009 and 2011. A total of 1587 M. tuberculosis strains (1 strain per tuberculosis patient) isolated in Croatia from 2009 to 2011 were genotyped using 15-locus mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number of tandem repeats (MIRU-VNTR) analysis. The majority of tested isolates (66.73%) belonged to the Euro-American global lineage. The most prevalent sub-lineages were Haarlem (48.64%), followed by S (6.05%), Cameroon (3.72%), and Latin American-Mediterranean (3.4%). Among the total 1587 tested isolates, 996 (63%) were included in 1 of 236 clusters. The cluster size ranged from 2 (114 clusters) to 45 (1 cluster) patients, the mean cluster size being 4.2. These results indicate that 47.83% of tuberculosis cases during the period analyzed were the result of recent transmission. The most prevalent global lineage in Croatia is Euro-American (sub-lineages Haarlem, S, Cameroon, and Latin American-Mediterranean). The high clustering rate and high medium clustering size of 4.2 tuberculosis cases could indicate a possible failure in interrupting the transmission of infection and points to the need for improvements in national and local tuberculosis control activities. This is the first study describing the molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in Croatia.

Renewable energy technologies and policies - experience in other countries and possibilities for Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renner, F. P.

2000-01-01

As Croatia begins the task of restructuring its energy sector, it has the opportunity to design programs and policies which will create the framework for a viable renewable energy contribution to overall energy supply. Croatia has many of the resources required for renewable energy, including good solar insolation, wind resources, small hydro and biomass. Implementing renewable energy projects is still a challenging prospect, mainly because of competition from fossil fuel sources of energy and because of the small scale and intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. However, there are many benefits, the most important of which are sustainability and reduced or zero air emission. in the most cases these benefits are not quantified or internalized into the project costs. As a result, most renewable energy projects are more costly than conventional projects on a purely financial basis. Overcoming the barriers to implementing renewable energy has been focus of many environmental groups as well as governments, especially in the last decade. Several countries, notably Denmark, have aggressively targeted increase use of renewable energy in the energy mix of the countries, and have implemented policies and regulations to encourage private and public sector use of renewables. policies in place include fiscal incentives, such as tax breaks, regulations such as guaranteed market share and pricing, or more market-based approaches such as green pricing, where consumers decide the premium they will pay for energy. Some of these policies have been quite successful in providing the right incentives to developers and utilities in adding more renewable energy to the national generation mix. Additionally, the area of emissions trading can be thought of as a policy initiative for a market-based approach to promoting increased renewable energy use. While the uncertainties of climate change and the politics of climate change make this a difficult area to count on, it should be

Five years of an educational programme - Results and experiences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dufkova, Marie

1998-01-01

Full text: School teachers and pupils constitute an important group having the ability to listen, Understand and help to create positive ties between the public and a utility. Therefore, CEZ spends a part of its revenue arising from the sales of electricity on education. CEZ's information and education programme named 'Energy for everybody' has been used by Czech schools for five years now. The main part of this educational programme is devoted to nuclear energy. CEZ materials for schools include: printed information, supplements to textbooks, videotapes, computer programmes, CD ROMs, an educational set for experiments with ionizing radiation, posters and other assorted materials. Schools are invited to visit Czech power plants and other facilities of the power sector (for example the experimental reactor at the Prague Technical University). Seminars and workshops are organised for teachers. CEZ offers objective information on all activities associated with energy generation and uses and the relationships between man and nature. The prices of our informational materials are rather symbolic, they come to one-tenth to one-third of the actual cost. CEZ is the only industrial company offering such a large-scale educational programme for schools in the Czech Republic. Materials are distributed to nearly 7 000 primary and secondary schools and 30 university departments. We have agreements with several schools which have committed themselves to testing our materials. Several dissertations and studies have demonstrated the usefulness of our materials for education and the contribution this information has made to the better understanding of nuclear energy. We have organised polls in order to ascertain how the schools liked the materials, what additional things they wished and what their view of nuclear power plants and CEZ was. The outcome has been unexpectedly favourable. In my contribution I will present the results of these polls and examples of successful activities

Plants and geographical names in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cargonja, Hrvoje; Daković, Branko; Alegro, Antun

2008-09-01

The main purpose of this paper is to present some general observations, regularities and insights into a complex relationship between plants and people through symbolic systems like geographical names on the territory of Croatia. The basic sources of data for this research were maps from atlas of Croatia of the scale 1:100000. Five groups of maps or areas were selected in order to represent main Croatian phytogeographic regions. A selection of toponyms from each of the map was made in which the name for a plant in Croatian language was recognized (phytotoponyms). Results showed that of all plant names recognized in geographical names the most represented are trees, and among them birch and oak the most. Furthermore, an attempt was made to explain the presence of the most represented plant species in the phytotoponyms in the light of general phytogeographical and sociocultural differences and similarities of comparing areas. The findings confirm an expectation that the genera of climazonal vegetation of particular area are the most represented among the phytotoponyms. Nevertheless, there are ample examples where representation of a plant name in the names of human environment can only be ascribed to ethno-linguistic and socio-cultural motives. Despite the reductionist character of applied methodology, this research also points out some advantages of this approach for ethnobotanic and ethnolinguistic studies of greater areas of human environment.

Energy in Croatia 2005, Annual Energy Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-12-01

Report presents the latest information on relations and trends in the Croatian energy sector. The reports gives a familiar overview of comprehensive data about and representative features of the Croatian energy sector, related to the supply and demand of energy at all levels. It produces a detailed analysis of energy trends and provides extensive data on capacity, reserves and prices as well as balances of individual energy sources - crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas, electricity, heat, coal and renewable source of energy. Basic economic and financial indicators, emissions of air pollutants and basic energy efficiency indicators for Croatia are also presented. In 2005, total primary energy supply in Croatia decreased slightly by 0.1 per cent with respect to the previous year. At the same time, GDP rose by 4.3 per cent, resulting in a drop in energy intensity of the total primary energy supply of 4.2 per cent. The energy intensity in Croatia was 20.1 per cent higher than the average energy intensity in the European Union, but a positive decreasing trend was noted during the past period. In 2005 the total primary energy production in Croatia fell by 3.5 per cent with respect to the previous year. The highest decrease was recorded in harnessing hydro power, and the production of crude oil and fuel wood also declined. Only the production of natural gas showed a growth of 3.5 per cent. Due to the decrease in the primary energy production, energy self-supply was also reduced to 47.9 per cent. A less value was achieved only in the year 2003. A continuing trend towards a gradual decline in energy self-supply was present throughout the past several years. Final energy demand increased by 3 per cent while demands in other sectors decreased. Energy transformation losses were reduced by 7 per cent, non-energy use declined by 5.6 per cent and energy transmission and distribution losses by 5.5 per cent, and there was a slight drop of 0.2 per cent in demand in energy

Current status of iodine intake in Croatia--the results of 2009 survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Kusić, Zvonko; Jukić, Tomislav; Rogan, Suncica Andreja; Juresa, Vesna; Dabelić, Nina; Stanicić, Josip; Borić, Marta; Lukinac, Ljerka; Mihaljević, Ivan; Punda, Ante; Smokvina, Aleksandar; Topalović, Zlatko; Katalenić, Marijan

2012-03-01

In 1996, due to persistence of mild to moderate iodine deficiency, new law on obligatory salt iodination with 25 mg of potassium iodide (KI) per kg of salt was implemented in Croatia. Along with a new law, a new program for monitoring of iodine prophylaxis was implemented. Investigations of goiter and iodine intake performed in 2002, demonstrated sufficient iodine intake in Croatia with overall median of urinary iodine concentration (UIC) for schoolchildren in Croatia of 140 microg/L. In 2002, thyroid volumes (TV) measured by ultrasound in schoolchildren from all four geographic regions of Croatia were for the first time within the normal range according to ICCIDD reference values. Nowadays, Croatia is internationally recognized as iodine sufficient country. The aim of the present study was to assess current status of iodine intake in Croatia. The investigation was carried out in 2009. A total of 386 schoolchildren aged 7-10 years from all four major geographic regions of Croatia, 103 euthyroid pregnant women and 36 women of child-bearing age from Zagreb, the capital, were included in the survey. Urinary iodine concentration (UIC) was measured in all participants. Thyroid volumes were measured by ultrasound in schoolchildren from the capital of Zagreb (N = 101) and the village of Rude (N = 56). In the time period 2002-2009, the content of KI was analyzed in 384 salt samples from Croatian salt plants and samples of imported salt. An overall median UIC for schoolchildren in Croatia was 248 microg/L. Median UIC in pregnant women was 159 microg/L, with 50% of samples below and under 150 microg/L. Median UIC in women of child-bearing age was 136 microg/L. Thyroid volumes in schoolchildren were within the normal range according to the new reference values. Mean value of KI/kg of salt in samples from Croatian salt plants was 25.5 mg/kg and 24.9 mg/kg in samples of imported salt. A total of 72/384 (18.8%) of salt samples didn't corresponded to the Croatian law on

Competitiveness and sustainability of HRM activities in Croatia –CRANET survey results

OpenAIRE

Nina Pološki Vokić

2015-01-01

The aim of the paper is to assess whether HRM practices in Croatia, as the newest European Union (EU) member country with only cca 20 years of free market economy which implies the change in the HRM philosophy, is heading towards more competitive or more sustainable HRM. In the theoretical part of the paper the characteristics of competitive HRM and sustainable HRM are provided. In the empirical part of the paper, using CRANET methodology, the survey of HRM practices in Croatia has been condu...

Healthcare financing in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nevenka Kovač

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Healthcare financing system is of crucial importance for the functioning of any healthcare system, especially because there is no country in the world that is able to provide all its residents with access to all the benefits afforded by modern medicine. Lack of resources in general and rising healthcare expenditures are considered a difficult issue to solve in Croatia as well. Since Croatia gained its independence, its healthcare system has undergone a number of reforms, the primary objective of which was to optimize healthcare services to the actual monetary capacity of the Croatian economy. The objectives of the mentioned re - forms were partially achieved. The solutions that have been offered until now, i.e. consolidation measures undertaken in the last 10 years were necessary; however, they have not improved the operating conditions. There is still the issue of the deficit from the previous years, i.e. outstanding payments, the largest in the last decade. Analysis of the performance of healthcare institutions in 2011 shows that the decision makers will have to take up a major challenge of finding a solution to the difficulties the Croatian healthcare system has been struggling with for decades, causing a debt of 7 billion kuna. At the same time, they will need to uphold the basic principles of the Healthcare Act, i.e. to provide access to healthcare and ensure its continuity, comprehensiveness and solidarity, keeping in mind that the National Budget Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act have been adopted.

Croatia: health system review.

Science.gov (United States)

Džakula, Aleksandar; Sagan, Anna; Pavić, Nika; Lonćčarek, Karmen; Sekelj-Kauzlarić, Katarina

2014-01-01

Croatia is a small central European country on the Balkan peninsula, with a population of approximately 4.3 million and a gross domestic product (GDP) of 62% of the European Union (EU) average (expressed in purchasing power parity; PPP) in 2012. On 1 July 2013, Croatia became the 28th Member State of the EU. Life expectancy at birth has been increasing steadily in Croatia (with a small decline in the years following the 1991 to 1995 War of Independence) but is still lower than the EU average. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the population has increased during recent years and trends in physical inactivity are alarming. The Croatian Health Insurance Fund (CHIF), established in 1993, is the sole insurer in the mandatory health insurance (MHI) system that provides universal health coverage to the whole population. The ownership of secondary health care facilities is distributed between the State and the counties. The financial position of public hospitals is weak and recent reforms were aimed at improving this. The introduction of concessions in 2009 (public private partnerships whereby county governments organize tenders for the provision of specific primary health care services) allowed the counties to play a more active role in the organization, coordination and management of primary health care; most primary care practices have been privatized. The proportion of GDP spent on health by the Croatian government remains relatively low compared to western Europe, as does the per capita health expenditure. Although the share of public expenditure as a proportion of total health expenditure (THE) has been decreasing, at around 82% it is still relatively high, even by European standards. The main source of the CHIFs revenue is compulsory health insurance contributions, accounting for 76% of the total revenues of the CHIF, although only about a third of the population (active workers) is liable to pay full health care contributions. Although the breadth and scope

Poverty and Social Transfers in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zoran Šuæur

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Various aspects of poverty in Croatia are still insufficiently well researched. Not only is there no knowledge about how long Croatian citizens remain poor, but there are also some disagreements about the actual number of the poor and the choice of the national poverty line. Nor has there been any precise evaluation of the effects of the individual anti-poverty policy measures. The objective of this paper was to analyse the basic indicators of the scope and distribution of poverty, the risk groups and the structure of the population of the poor and to investigate the role of social transfers in the reduction of poverty. The paper consists of four parts and an introduction. In Part 1 there is an analysis of the trends in the numbers of the poor in Croatia at the beginning of the millennium and the profile of poverty. The second part deals with the policy for the reduction or elimination of poverty, while in Part 3 the author deals with the problem of selecting the official poverty line and the role of the minimum income in Croatia. Part 4 contains the conclusions. Using the official EU poverty line, a comparative analysis shows that the rates of relative poverty in Croatia do not deviate greatly from the EU mean, although Croatia does have a somewhat higher rate of poverty than most of the countries in the Union. Most at risk of falling below the poverty line are the elderly, the retired and the unemployed, single-person households, single-parent families and families with three or more children. The total system of social transfers is not less effective than the transfer systems of most of the countries of the EU. If we exclude old age and survivor pensions from the social transfers, in fact, Croatia has the most effective social transfers of any of the countries observed. However, on the other hand, the poverty rate reduction due to old age and survivor pensions is one of the lowest in the countriescompared.

Thirty-five years of drift-tube linac experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knowles, H.B.

1984-10-01

The history of the drift-tube linear accelerator (linac) for the first 35 years of its existence is briefly reviewed. Both US and foreign experience is included. Particular attention is given to technological improvements, operational reliability, capital investment, and number of personnel committed to drift-tube linac (DTL) development. Preliminary data indicate that second- and third-generation (post-1960) DTLs have, in the US alone, operated for a combined total period of more than 75 machine-years and that very high reliability (>90%) has been achieved. Existing US drift-tube linacs represent a capital investment of at least $250 million (1983). Additional statistical evidence, derived from the proceedings of the last 11 linear accelerator conferences, supports the view that the DTL has achieved a mature technological base. The report concludes with a discussion of important recent advances in technology and their applications to the fourth generation of DTLs, many of which are now becoming operational

The challenges and issues facing the radioactive waste management in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Subasic', D.; Saler, A.

1994-01-01

There are substantial experiences in Croatia in the field of radioactive waste management concerning both the waste from nuclear applications and waste generated at nuclear power plant. The essential issue now is how set-up infrastructure and to realize institutional and capacity building to get adjusted to needs of the newly independent state. In connection to this, the issues related to national radioactive waste management strategy, past and new organization of the Regulatory Body, and changes in legislation and regulations are discussed. In addition, some on-going projects important for realization of a complete radioactive waste management in the country round up the present situation in the field of radioactive waste management in Croatia

IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON RETAILING IN CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Mrvica MAĐARAC

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Trade is one of the leading sectors of the Croatian economy, which has undergone significant changes under the influence of globalization over the last decade. According to Central Bureau of Statistics in Croatia about 16 % of all employees work in trade business, and more than a quarter of business entities are registered in this sector. Therefore the trade has a significant share in Croatian GDP creation. Globalization is considered an important factor of economic development around the world. Through development of communication technology the world has become integrated into the "global village" and a business contact itself can be accomplished in a matter of minutes. The effects of globalization on retailing in Croatia are mostly reflected in the introduction of new retailing forms, development of e-commerce, consumer protection, the introduction of space management, changes in consumer habits and the arrival of multinational trading companies on the market of Croatia. In this way, the Croatian market has become a part of a single system. Globalization has a negative effect on trade in the Republic of Croatia too, because the domestic production and retail sales of small neighborhood stores are threatened in this way. Retailing in Croatia should make an attempt to adapt to the global trends in the world and to new changes taking into account the domestic production by the principle of comparative advantage.

Nuclear Knowledge Preservation in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pleslic, S.; Novosel, N.

2006-01-01

Since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, Vienna, Austria) was founded in 1957 as an autonomous intergovernmental organization, it was authorized for exchange of technical and scientific information on peaceful uses of atomic energy. 35 years ago the International Nuclear Information System (INIS) was established from IAEA as an international bibliographic database in the nuclear field and in nuclear related areas. INIS as an instrument for a comprehensive and systematic dissemination of all information and knowledge becomes a big technological and science information system with 134 Members (114 countries and 20 international organizations). In INIS Membership Arrangements all Members are responsible for the collection, selection, description of information and providing the Agency with the full text of each item of non-conventional literature. Participation of each Member is important because decentralized information management is an operational philosophy of INIS. During all these years status of nuclear power changed significantly in the world. Some developing countries started to develop nuclear power programme and some developed countries showed tendency to decrease use of nuclear power. Anyway, expert knowledge accumulated over decades and the achievements in the field of nuclear science and technology have to be preserved and later transferred to future generations. It became obvious that the INIS is practically a pioneer in the area of nuclear knowledge preservation with well defined goals of knowledge preservation: selection of the most valuable information to convey to the future, ensuring that it remains accessible, readable and understandable and management of technological change. Main components of knowledge preservation are: selection of information for preservation including evaluation and prioritisation by value, use and risk, information capture (purchasing, copy, digitise, web links), describing, classifying, store and access

Prerequisites of Sustainable Development of Rural Tourism in Continental Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bartoluci Mato

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The goal of this paper was to analyze the current status of rural tourism in Croatia and to identify possibilities, guidelines and methods of its sustainable development. The research has shown that rural tourism in Croatia falls behind the sun-and-beach holiday tourism in coastal Croatia and that numerous and diverse natural and social resources in Continental Croatia are insufficiently employed, especially in the Continental part of the country Past research of rural tourism in continental Croatia relied on individual entrepreneurial initiative and scarce funding resources, so that consequently a heterogeneous and fragmented rural tourism offer, based on various tourism forms and special interest tourism types, has developed in an unorganized way. However, rural tourism can become a driving force for the development of rural areas, taking into account the concept of sustainable development, based on the balance of economic, ecological and social responsibility. In the future, it should encourage development projects that ensure integrated tourist offer and thereby enable long-term sustainable development of rural tourism in continental Croatia.

Homogenization of monthly precipitation time series in Croatia

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Zahradníček, Pavel; Rasol, D.; Cindric, K.; Štěpánek, Petr

2014-01-01

Roč. 34, č. 14 (2014), s. 3671-3682 ISSN 0899-8418 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) EE2.3.20.0248; GA MŠk(CZ) EE2.4.31.0056 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : homogenization * Croatia * precipitation * inhomogeneities * break points Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 3.157, year: 2014

Rickettsiae and rickettsial diseases in Croatia: Implications for travel medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Dzelalija, Boris; Punda-Polic, Volga; Medic, Alan; Dobec, Marinko

To review the current state of knowledge concerning rickettsiae and rickettsioses in Croatia and to discuss their implications for travellers. The PubMed database was searched from 1991 to 2015 by combining the words "rickettsia," "rickettsiosis", "travellers" and "Croatia". Since 1969, Croatia appears to be free of epidemic typhus (ET) caused by Rickettsia prowazekii and the last case of Brill-Zinsser disease was recorded in 2008. Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) caused by Rickettsia conorii is the most frequent human rickettsial infection in Croatia, followed by murine typhus caused by Rickettsia typhi. Human cases of MSF and murine typhus have been predominantly observed along the eastern Adriatic coast from Zadar to Dubrovnik and between Zadar and Split, respectively. Rickettsia akari, etiologic agent of rickettsialpox, was isolated from blood of a patient diagnosed with MSF in Zadar, but no cases of rickettsialpox were reported. Several species of pathogenic (Rickettsia slovaca, Rickettsia aeschlimannii, Ricketsia helvetica, and Ricketsia raoultii) and species of undetermined pathogenicity (Ricketsia hoogstraalii sp. nov.) rickettsiae were identified in ticks collected in different ecological regions of Croatia. A search of the literature revealed no evidence of rickettsial infection in travellers visiting Croatia. Three imported cases of Rickettsia africae were observed in travellers returning from South Africa. Rickettsiae and rickettsial diseases continue to be present in Croatia. As they can be acquired while travelling, physicians should consider rickettsial infection in the differential diagnosis of patients returning from Croatia and presenting with febrile illness. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abstract Collection of 25th Forum: Energy Day in Croatia: A Unique Energy and Climate Policy in Open Energy Market - A Year After COP 21

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

Ever since Croatian Energy Association was founded and became a member of the World Energy Council (WEC), a total of 25 Forums were organised, with subjects of utter importance for the energy sector. Experts and the public were familiarized with problems, trends, visions and experiences from different countries through papers and presentations presented on those forums, which were also an outlook to the future. The subjects of the forums already held were as following: 1992, Croatian Energy During and After the War; 1993, New Technologies and Energy Management; 1994, Problems of the Energy Sector Transition; 1995, Prices and Tariff Policy in the Energy Industry; 1996, Expectations in the Energy Consumption until 2020; 1997, Goals, Methodology and Experiences of Regional Planning as a part of a National Energy Sector; 1998, Future of the Energy Industry After the Kyoto Protocol; 1999, Energy Market and Energy Efficiency in the Transition Countries; 2000, Restructure, Privatisation and Market Change of Linked Energy Systems; 2001, Liberalisation and Privatisation of the Energy Sector in Transition Countries and in the European Union - Experiences and Perspective; 2002, Regulation Problem on the Energy Services Market; 2003, Energy Consumers in the Open Market Conditions; 2004, Long-term Planning and Supply Security in the Open Market Conditions; 2005, Energy Perspectives Today and Tomorrow - WORLD EUROPE CROATIA; 2006, Energy Perspectives to 2050 - WORLD EUROPE CROATIA; 2007, Energy Future in the Light of Conditions and Integration Processes in Europe; 2008, Europe, Region and Croatia in 2030; 2009, Quo Vadis Energy in the Period of Climate Change; 2010, Energy Future - Vision Until 2050; 2011, Third package and other energy directives - What they do and do not bring, and what we can expect in the future; 2012, Reducing CO2 Emissions by 80 percent by 2050 - Reality or Utopia; 2013, How to Accomplish Goals of Reducing CO2 Emissions by 2050; 2014, How to Define and

Drug Policy in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Culig, Josip; Antolic, Sinisa; Szkultecka-Dębek, Monika

2017-09-01

We presented a general overview of the health care system as well as the pricing and reimbursement environment in Croatia. In Croatia, most of the public funding for health care is collected from employers, through mandatory health care contributions for all the employed citizens. This contribution is a dedicated tax reserved for the health care system derived from employees' salaries. The rest of the public funds is mainly from taxes used by the Ministry of Finance to complement the overall health budget each year. The population is covered by a basic health insurance plan provided by statute and optional insurance, administered by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund. Reimbursement decisions are based on the Ordinance of Ministry of Health issued in 2013, which is an ordinance establishing the criteria for inclusion of medicinal products in the Croatian Health Insurance Fund basic and supplementary drug lists. A health technology assessment agency was established in 2007 as a legal, public, independent, nonprofit institution under the Act on Quality of Health Care. Budget impact analysis is obligatory, and cost-effectiveness analysis is beneficial. Two reimbursement lists exist: the basic (100% drug coverage) and the supplementary (co-payment from 10% to 90%) lists. The basic list covers both hospital and retail drugs. There is also a special drug list for expensive drugs (mainly hospital drugs). International reference pricing is also in place. List updates are done on an yearly basis. Real-world evidence can be required for health technology assessment as evidence for the budget impact models and cost-effective analysis; it is, however, not mandatory. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Social Trust: Croatia 1995-2003.

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Berto Šalaj

2005-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the author deals with the concept of social trust. It is the author’s view that this concept has been neglected in past political science research in Croatia; consequently, he wishes to present it to the academic and professional political science public, thus creating a basis for its future use. Moreover, through application of a secondary dana analysis the author describes the state of social trust in Croatia. First, he contextualises the concept of social trust with regard to the dominant research approaches in political science; then he points to the distinctiveness of social trust in relation to other types of trust; fi nally, he provides an overview of the most relevant works on the importance and functions of social trust. In the concluding part of the paper, an analysis of the levels of social trust is conducted, revealing that Croatia is a society with markedly low levels of social trust. In the author’s opinion, this could present an obstacle to further political and economic development.

Laparoscopic treatment of achalasia -first case in Croatia

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Ferid Latić

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Esophageal achalasia is a primary esophageal motility disorder. Commonly used treatments are botulinum toxin injections, endoscopic balloon dilation and surgical myotomy with or withoutfundoplication. We are hereby presenting the first case of laproscopic myotomy with fundoplication performed in Croatia. A 32-year old female was admitted to the hospital due to the symptoms of dysphagia, regurgitation, chest pain and weight loss. Upper gastrointestinal tract radiography with contrast and flexible endoscopy confirmed the clinical diagnosis of achalasia. She was treated by the Heller laparoscopic procedure and Dor anterior fundoplication. The patient had a successful recovery and was discharged on the fifth postoperative day. This case shows thatlaparoscopic treatment of achalasia is a feasibile and safe procedure which can be performed even in a small country hospital, but it requires great technical care and experience of the surgeon.

Energy strategy of the Republic of Croatia by the year 2020 (Proposal); Energetska strategija Republike Hrvatske do 2020. godine (Prijedlog)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kramberger, V [Ministry of Economy, Zagreb (Croatia); Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Croatia, Project PROHES

1997-12-31

In this paper a proposal on the `Energy strategy of the Republic of Croatia by the year 2020` has been presented. The proposal has been worked out on the basis of the preliminary results of the project `Croatian energy sector development and organization` - PROHES printed in July 1995. The discussion on the strategy has been carried out in the bodies of the PROHES (Board of Directors and Experts Council) and supplemented with suggestions on the discussion. (author). 11 figs., 5 tabs.

AN OVERVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF ENERGY CHALLENGES IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

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Rada Cristina IRIMIE

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the key energy challenges that Croatia faces, how those challenges are likely to evolve in the coming years, and some possible solutions to the issues presented. While there is a wide variety of issues that Croatia will need to address, this paper will address two of the most pressing: reliance on energy imports, and an inadequate power grid and energy infrastructure. After identifying current vulnerabilities that the country is facing, the analysis points out the trends and the ongoing challenges regarding the demand for energy in Croatia. Finally, this paper concludes with the recommendation that Croatia pursue a multi-pronged approach to renewable energy generation, emphasizing decentralized production as the most time and cost effective strategy until the national power grid can be sufficiently upgraded and integrated to support more centralized approaches. Its geographic location, immanent admission to the EU and potential for diverse domestic sources of renewable energy combine to set the stage for a bright future for Croatia’s economic development, as long as the Croatian authorities place a priority on a multi - pronged approach to energy sources on the one hand, while continuing to work to a unified energy infrastructure on the other.

[Health system research in the Republic of Croatia 1990-2010].

Science.gov (United States)

Kovacević, Jasmina; Sogorić, Selma; Dzakula, Aleksandar

2010-12-01

The aim of this study was to determine the scope and contents of peer-reviewed scientific publications that bring the results of the Health System Research (HSR) in the Republic of Croatia during the 1990-2010 period. The basic guidelines are in line with the research project, Health Services Research into European Policy and Practice (HSREPP). This project is being implemented with the aim of identifying, evaluating and improving the contribution of Health System Research to the development of Health Policy in Europe. This study included scientific publications indexed in the PubMed database and master theses and doctoral dissertations published at Schools of Medicine in Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka and Split during the 1990-2010 period. In accordance with the project methodology, scientific publications indexed in PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) were searched for by the key words "Croatia AND (Health Care System OR Health System OR Healthcare System)". Then, the database of scientific publications indexed in PubMed was narrowed by key words divided into 4 groups according to HSREPP instructions. The search for master theses and doctoral dissertations was carried out by direct inspection of the completed works in the library of Andrija Stampar School of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb. Access to master theses and doctoral dissertations at the other three medical schools was done by the Internet. We analyzed the collected summaries of all publications, master theses and doctoral dissertations and excluded all those that did not correspond to our research. Using this method, we found a total of 536 publications indexed in PubMed-in, 70 master theses and 22 doctoral dissertations meeting the study criteria. For further analysis, we separately considered master theses and doctoral dissertations on the one side, and scientific publications indexed in PubMed on the other side. All papers were listed by the year of publication, the author

The potential of bioash for utilization in road construction in eastern Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Zagvozda, Martina; Dimter, Sanja; Rukavina, Tatjana

2017-12-01

In recent years usage of biomass as energy source has intensified in eastern Croatia. Newly built biomass power plants generate great amounts of bioash that is being disposed at landfills. Due to its favorable properties bioashes could be reused as alternative materials in road construction or road fundation. Therefore, research on application of bioashes in construction industry is being conducted at Faculty of Civil Engineering in Osijek. The main motivation behind this research, in a form of biomass and bioash production in eastern Croatia as well as international research on potential application of this types of bioashes, is show in this paper.

Retrospective evaluation of the five-year and ten-year CSEP-Italy earthquake forecasts

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Stefan Wiemer

2010-11-01

Full Text Available On August 1, 2009, the global Collaboratory for the Study of Earthquake Predictability (CSEP launched a prospective and comparative earthquake predictability experiment in Italy. The goal of this CSEP-Italy experiment is to test earthquake occurrence hypotheses that have been formalized as probabilistic earthquake forecasts over temporal scales that range from days to years. In the first round of forecast submissions, members of the CSEP-Italy Working Group presented 18 five-year and ten-year earthquake forecasts to the European CSEP Testing Center at ETH Zurich. We have considered here the twelve time-independent earthquake forecasts among this set, and evaluated them with respect to past seismicity data from two Italian earthquake catalogs. We present the results of the tests that measure the consistencies of the forecasts according to past observations. As well as being an evaluation of the time-independent forecasts submitted, this exercise provides insight into a number of important issues in predictability experiments with regard to the specification of the forecasts, the performance of the tests, and the trade-off between robustness of results and experiment duration. We conclude with suggestions for the design of future earthquake predictability experiments.

Tax Expenditures in Croatia

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Vjekoslav Bratić

2006-06-01

Full Text Available The tax system of the Republic of Croatia contains a large number of very diverse kinds of tax expenditures whose the declared aim is to achieve certain social and economic objectives. This paper considers all the items that constitute tax expenditures in Croatia, within the systems of the personal income tax, corporate income tax, and real estate transfer tax and value added tax. The objective of the article is to determine the real level of tax expenditures per form of tax in the 2001-2004 period. We hypothesised that the tax expenditures in the analysed forms of tax are both high and growing, which was ultimately borne out, for almost all the analysed items in the tax forms considered are growing.

GAME MEAT MARKET IN EASTERN CROATIA

OpenAIRE

Z. Tolušić; T. Florijančić; I. Kralik; M. Sesar; M. Tolušić

2006-01-01

In the Republic of Croatia, game meat is consumed far less than meat of domestic animals. Yearly game meat consumption amounts to only 0.55 kg per household member. Consumers prefer meat of domestic animals, because it is cheaper, not paying attention to specific nutritive advantages of game meat. A research on the game meat market and consumers’ preferences was carried out on 101 examinees, chosen among inhabitants of Slavonia and Baranja. The majority of questioned inhabitants did consume g...

Political Changes in Croatia and the Croatian Emigrant Press in Chile

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Marina Perić

2005-06-01

Full Text Available The paper gives an overview of the Croatian emigrant press in Chile through five historical periods (before World War I, during World War I, between the two world wars, during World War II, after World War II. Parallels are drawn between political changes in Croatia and changes in the contents and themes of the emigrant press. One emigrant newspaper is analysed for each historical period, via the content analysis method, and front-page articles are taken as the units of analysis. Apart from the messages’ contents, their form is analysed, so as to assess opinions that the messages’ senders transmit to their receivers. Based on the analysis of the newspapers, the author concludes that changes in Croatia had an important influence on the emigrant press, which was especially visible in the period during World War I and World War II. In the period from World War I onwards, headings and themes in the emigrant press were used to propagate Yugoslavism and a sense of belonging to the Yugoslav nation and state. The identity of the emigrants changed under the influence of political changes in Croatia. Up to World War I they were mainly anti-Austrian oriented, and in the next four periods they accepted the state and the government of both the first and the second Yugoslavia, identifying themselves with Yugoslavia, and raising their descendents in a Yugoslav spirit.

Review Of Development And Characteristics Of Organic Agriculture In Croatia

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Kristina Petljak

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In the last decade, an ever increasing interest of both foreign and domestic academic and general public for organic agriculture can be observed. Organic agriculture, as a new agricultural production system, enables full utilization of farming potentials while satisfying social and economic needs and preserving natural ecosystem and environment. Act on Organic Production of Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs provides an elementary strategic frame for agricultural production development in Republic of Croatia. This article gives an overview of organic agriculture legislation in Croatia and detailed analysis of development periods of organic agriculture. Special emphasis is put on structure of organic production which highlights data on organic plant and animal production in Croatia. The paper provides a comparison between levels of organic agriculture development in the world (with the special emphasis on Europe and in Croatia, as well as the overview of main obstacles towards more significant development of organic agriculture in Republic of Croatia.

Impact of Public Internal Financial Control on Public Administration in Croatia

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Vesna VAŠIČEK

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The PIFC /Public Internal Financial Control/ was developed by the European Commission. PIFC is set of principles internal financial controls system established for the purpose of controlling, auditing, supervise on the use of national budget and European Union budget and funds. Also, in order to support candidate countries in their internal control system reforms in the public sector. Therefore, it is expected for the candidate countries to establish and develop the system of internal financial controls according to the concept which was in that field developed by the European Union based on International Standards and the best practice of European countries. Since the year 2003 the Republic of Croatia undertakes intensive activities on the establishment and development of the internal financial control system according with the regulation of European Union. In keeping with the set concept, the Republic of Croatia undertook numerous activities during the past six years to create all the necessary assumptions for the establishment and development of the system, including: the adoption of the initial strategic documents; drafting of laws; the creation of organisational capacities and human resources; and the implementation of the system with budget users at central government and local levels. In this paper we will present phases of implementation PIFC in Croatian Public Sector. Through this phases we will show impact that PIFC has on development of New Public Management in Croatia and changes in organizational structure and human resource that are caused during this process. Also, we will give critical opinion of that process and problems which occur during implementation. In this paper we will present approach in implementation of PIFC in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and compare this with implementation in Croatia.

THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF GASTRONOMIC TOURISM OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

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Ivica Batinić

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Gastronomic travel is all the more popular all over the world, and gastronomic tourism has become a selective form of tourism aimed at creating a top tourist experience. Republic of Croatia is proud of its rich gastronomy in such a small area of outstanding cultural specificity and diversity, and with an interesting gastronomic offer tourists can be provided with completely different and new experiences. With a rich, attractive and autochthonous gastronomic offer that will have segments of new experiences and adventures as well as quality cooperation between state (development institutions and tourist entities in tourist destinations, the Republic of Croatia can successfully develop and promote gastronomic tourism and become a recognizable world gastronomic destination on the demanding Tourism market.

Vertigo/dizziness in pediatric emergency department: Five years' experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Raucci, Umberto; Vanacore, Nicola; Paolino, Maria Chiara; Silenzi, Romina; Mariani, Rosanna; Urbano, Antonella; Reale, Antonino; Villa, Maria Pia; Parisi, Pasquale

2016-05-01

Vertigo/Dizziness in childhood is not a rare cause of visits to the emergency department (ED). We analyzed a selected group with vertigo/dizziness to identify signs and symptoms that may help to guide the diagnostic approach and management. A total of 616 children admitted for vertigo to the ED over a five-year period were retrospectively reviewed. Their medical history, clinical characteristics, laboratory and neuroimaging tests, final diagnoses and management were analyzed. Migraine and syncope were the most frequent causes. Two patients were affected by life-threatening cardiac syncope, while structural life-threatening central nervous system diseases were found in 15 patients, none of whom presented with vertigo as an isolated clinical finding. Most cases of vertigo/dizziness in childhood that consist mainly of migraine and syncope are of benign origin. The prompt identification of neurological or cardiological signs or symptoms associated with vertigo in children is mandatory to rule out life-threatening conditions. © International Headache Society 2015.

SWOT Analysis and Related Countermeasures for Croatia to Explore the Chinese Tourist Source Market

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Qian Wang

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Croatia is a land endowed with rich and diversified natural and cultural tourist resources. Traveling around Croatia, I was stunned by its beauty. However, I noticed that there were few Chinese tourists in Croatia. How can we bring more Chinese tourists to Croatia? How can we make them happy and comfortable in Croatia? And, at the same time, how can we avoid polluting this tract of pure land? Based on first-hand research work, I make a SWOT analysis of the Chinese tourist source market of Croatia and put forward related countermeasures from the perspective of a native Chinese. The positioning of tourism in Croatia should be ingeniously packaged. I recommend developing diversified and specialized tourist products, various marketing and promotional activities, simple and flexible visa policies and regulations, and other related measures to further explore the Chinese tourist source market of Croatia.

137Cs in mushrooms from Croatia sampled 15-30 years after Chernobyl.

Science.gov (United States)

Tucaković, Ivana; Barišić, Delko; Grahek, Željko; Kasap, Ante; Širić, Ivan

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to select species with higher potential to accumulate 137 Cs among the available mushroom species, by determining the activity concentrations of 137 Cs in mushrooms collected along north and north-western part of Croatia. A total of 55 samples of 14 different species were analyzed and the potential of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic species to accumulate 137 Cs was compared. A wide range of the dry weight activity concentrations of 137 Cs was detected, ranging from 0.95 to 1210 Bq/kg (154 Bq/kg mean value; 52.3 Bq/kg geometric mean) in mycorrhizal and 1.05-36.8 Bq/kg (8.90 Bq/kg mean value; 5.49 Bq/kg geometric mean) in saprotrophic species. Statistical analyses showed that mycorrhizal species accumulate significantly higher concentrations of 137 Cs and thus could perform better as long-term bioindicators of environmental pollution by radiocaesium then saprotrophic species. The comparison of Boletus sp. and Hydnum repandum (both mycorrhizal species commonly found in Croatia) showed, in general order of magnitude, higher accumulation in Hydnum repandum. Clearly, mushrooms, especially mycorrhizal species, can be used as significant indicators even decades after the occurrence of any serious 137 Cs contamination event. However, as a wide range of values indicates that various parameters may influence the total uptake of the 137 Cs into the mushroom fruit bodies, it is necessary to emphasize that 137 Cs activity detected in a single mushroom sample is very site-specific. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction of Participatory Conservation in Croatia, Residents' Perceptions: A Case Study from the Istrian Peninsula

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Sladonja, Barbara; Brščić, Kristina; Poljuha, Danijela; Fanuko, Neda; Grgurev, Marin

2012-06-01

Croatia, like many other transition countries has undergone radical changes in its nature protection models. This paper discusses a historical overview, present situation and future possibilities for nature conservation in Croatia. A conservative top-down approach to nature protection was applied in the past in Croatia and is now being replaced by a prevalent bottom-up approach. Social context is crucial to introducing participatory conservation, therefore special concern is given to the perception of the local population towards protected area management in Istria as a case study in Croatia. Survey data were used to assess the conservation knowledge of local populations and their perception towards Protected Areas (PAs), leadership activities and management authorities in Istria County. This paper examines the perceptions of 313 residents living in and around six natural PAs located in Istria. The results revealed a moderate general knowledge about PAs in Istria and environmental issues, and a low awareness of institutions managing PAs, eagerness to participate in the activities of PAs and general support for the conservation cause. Understanding the perception of local residents enables the creation of feasible, long-term strategies for the implementation of participatory conservation. The research identifies the need for greater human, technical and financial efforts to strengthen the management capabilities of local agencies responsible for PAs. The process of participatory conservation optimization in Croatia is underway and world experiences must be observed in order to create a congruent, site-specific model with the best possible results.

The determinants of health among the population aged 50 and over: evidence from Croatia

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Sime Smolic

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to explore the association between demographic, socio-economic and physical health variables and self-assessed health (SAH of people aged 50 years and over in Croatia. Cross-sectional data was collected in 2012 in the survey “The Economics of Ageing in Croatiaˮ that was based on the SHARE (Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe study. Altogether 761 individuals aged 50 and over were included in the working sample that has been used in statistical analysis. Data were analysed in an ordered logistic regression model. The results show that females were more likely to report a higher category of SAH than males. Higher educational level was a statistically significant predictor of higher SAH, when controlled for other variables. This study, unlike other studies in Croatia, introduces a set of physical health variables as the determinants of health. Our results suggest that people aged 50 and over with fewer limitations, health related symptoms and diagnosed chronic conditions were more likely to report higher levels of SAH. These findings could be beneficial to policymakers in their efforts to improve health among elderly in Croatia.

Report on radiation protection in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dragan, K.; Svilicic, N.; Novakovic, M.; Franic, Z.

2001-01-01

The Ministry of Health in the Republic of Croatia is in charge of radiation protection, and the new Ionizing Radiation Protection Act defines the responsibilities of the different organizations and institutions. The report explains the existing national system of notification and registration in Croatia and some of the main provisions of the above referred Act. Reference is made to the national provisions for the management of disused sources, recovery or control of orphan sources, and to the national inventory of radiation sources in the country with the data collected during 1998 and 1999. (author)

Energy in Croatia 2008, Brief Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

The sixth edition of concise energy review 'Energy in Croatia 2008' presents brief information on relations and developments in the Croatian energy sector to domestic and international audience. Apart od basic energy indicators, this report provides data on energy production and consumption, as well as energy commodities, balances for the past period. In addition, the report gives other interesting indicators, such as, basic facts on the Republic of Croatia, air pollutant emissions, energy prices, energy capacities and energy reserves. The report presents the croatian energy sector in practical and informative style

Attitudes Towards Immigrants, Immigration Policies and Labour Market Outcomes: Comparing Croatia with Hungary and Slovenia

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Botrić Valerija

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The paper provides comparative evidence on attitudes towards immigrants, their labour market outcomes and policies in Croatia and two neighbouring countries – Slovenia and Hungary. Three different data sources have been used: the European Social Survey, an ad-hoc Labour Force Survey module for the year 2014, and the MIPEX index. Although immigrants have a disadvantaged position on the Croatian labour market, most analysed indicators do not imply that they are in a worse position than in other European economies. Migrant integration policies related to the labour market are assessed as being relatively favourable for Croatia. Judging by the comparable indicators for the native population in Croatia, immigrants’ adverse labour market outcomes seem to be more related to the unfavourable general economic situation, and particularly by the deep and long recession.

Computing for magnetic fusion energy research: The next five years

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mann, L.; Glasser, A.; Sauthoff, N.

1991-01-01

This report considers computing needs in magnetic fusion for the next five years. It is the result of two and a half years of effort by representatives of all aspects of the magnetic fusion community. The report also factors in the results of a survey that was distributed to the laboratories and universities that support fusion. There are four areas of computing support discussed: theory, experiment, engineering, and systems

The Activities of Students in Leisure Time in Sisak-Moslavina County (Republic of Croatia)

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Ðuranovic, Marina; Opic, Siniša

2016-01-01

The aim of this paper is to explore the prevalence of activities in leisure time of the young. A survey was conducted on 1062 students in 8 primary (n = 505; 47,6%) and high schools (n = 557; 52,4%) in Sisak-Moslavina County in the Republic of Croatia. The questionnaire of spending leisure time used was made up of 30 variables on a five-degree…

Radiostrontium contamination of milk in the republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franic, Z.; Lokobauer, N.; Marovic, G.

2000-01-01

Milk is the sensitive indicator for presence of fission products in the environment. In addition, milk as the very important foodstuff in dietary habits is potentially a major source of radioactive contamination by ingestion. Since the days of intensive atmospheric nuclear weapon tests, dairy milk in Croatia has been continuously collected and analyzed for radioactivity. In this paper are summarized the results of long-term systematic measurements of radiostrontium activities in Milk. Milk samples from Zagreb dairy, 1 L every day were obtained commercially. In 1960s 90 Sr was determined by the conventional radiochemical analysis with fuming nitric acid separation. From 1970 to present 90 Sr was determined by extraction with tributyl phosphate, except in the year of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, when fuming nitric acid was also used. Fallout activity affects milk activity, the coefficient of correlation being >0.9. The radiostrontium activities in milk in Croatia are log-normally distributed, reflecting the exponential decrease of activity. The nuclear accident in Chernobyl did not cause any significant increase of 90 Sr activities in environmental samples in Croatia, including 8 milk. The dose due to radiostrontium ingestion by milk consumption was estimated for the Croatian population (approximately 4.8 million of inhabitants). The annual collective equivalent dose in the year of Chernobyl was 5.5 manSv. The 90 Sr activity in milk decreases exponentially ever since 1960s. Peak values were recorded in 1964, following the most intensive nuclear weapon tests. Reflecting the exponential decrease of activity doses due to radiostrontium from milk consumption are small, in spit of large consumption of milk by Croatian population. (author)

90-Sr in Milk in the North-Western Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maracic, M.; Marovic, G.; Lokobauer, N.; Sencar, J.; Petroci, Lj.

2003-01-01

The program of radioactivity measurements and monitoring of the human environment in Croatia, carried out by the Radiation Protection Unit of the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Heath in Zagreb, involve also investigations of radiostrontium in milk and milk products. Milk is a very important foodstuff and a critical food in respect to the presence and persistence of nuclides in the body. Because of its high calcium content, milk is used as a sensitive indicator for the presence of fission products in foods and in the environment. It is also an important route of entry of radiostrontium from fallout to man. Radiostrontium, a highly toxic radionuclide, is similar to calcium in its chemical behaviour, including its deposition in human bone. The paper describes investigation of 9 0S r activity in milk collected over the period of six year at two locations in the north-western part of the Republic of Croatia. 9 0S r was determined by extraction with tributyl phosphate. 9 0S r was measured on basis of radioactive balance with its decay product 9 0Y , counted by low background level anti-coincidence shielded GM counter. In the Republic of Croatia, milk consumption of approximately 100 L per year/person can potentially lead to the accumulation of significant radiation dose. The doses received from milk consumption are small, but owing to the long retention time of 9 0S r in bone which can be the basis for its potential hazard, 9 0S r level require continuous control and monitoring. Special emphasis should be given to children as the most vulnerable part of population. (author)

Creating an Intercultural Learning Opportunity: Zagreb, Croatia and Plattsburgh, New York

Science.gov (United States)

Mountcastle, Amy

2011-01-01

In the spring of 2009 I embarked on a teaching experiment in which I joined an online SUNY-Plattsburgh class taking my Anthropology of Human Rights course with a conventional class at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, where I was a visiting professor teaching the same course. My motivations were several, but prominent among them was to test the…

Twenty Years of National Minority Protection in the Republic of Croatia

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Siniša Tatalović

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The paper contains a review of policies towards national minorities in the Republic of Croatia in the past twenty years, with reference to the perspective of minority rights implementation. The topic has been analysed in relation to two independent variables – the influence of external factors, i.e. the international community, and internal political processes that have had influence on the realisation of national minority rights. Today, as a country and society on the eve of accession to the European Union, along with a legislatively developed and institutionally branched model of the implementation of national minority rights, we can not claim to have established permanent protection of their rights. The degree of national minority integration in society is the only true indicator of policy success in relation to national minorities. The goal of this policy ought to be complete integration of national minorities into public, cultural, economic and political life, but accompanied by the preservation of their cultural and national identity. The Croatian model has been set up in such a way, but the manner in which it functions will depend on the political will to implement it, the willingness of national minority members to be active subjects of social and political life, as well as on civil society and Croatian society as a whole.

Commercial banking and personal indebtedness in Croatia

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Filipović Ivan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Social phenomenon of personal over-indebtedness has emerged in the past thirty years. The trend of excessive indebtedness of households is not losing but gaining momentum. The problem of personal over-indebtedness becomes the focus of interest of regulators, research community and the public in general. In Croatia the number of citizens whose bank accounts are frozen as well as the level of their debt is steadily rising. One of the reasons of such trend is easier access to debt. Studies document the process of 'credit democratization', one of the reasons enabling it being the relaxation of financial regulation. Only few studies can be found that research the role of bank operations policies in inducing the higher levels of household debt. Bank marketing, specifically the advertising and promotion are the tools to communicate with clients, and it has been proven that effective marketing content is as powerful as the interest rate level in deciding upon getting a credit. This leads the way to the research of possible relation between marketing efforts of the bank and the level of household indebtedness. This paper focuses on the possible proactive role of banks, driven by the profitability, and accompanied with the inappropriate quality and level of regulation, in the rise of the number of over-indebted persons in Croatia. The effect of the economic downturn on the proposed relationship is also taken into account. The analysis is based on the bank financial statements data and selected macroeconomic indicators. The goal of the paper is to describe how banks impact the consumer behavior, and consequently give incentive to the rise of personal indebtedness in Croatia.

RESULTS OF THE THREE-YEAR MONITORING (2001.-2003. OF TOBACCO WHITEFLY Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius, 1889, (HOMOPTERA: ALEYRODIDAE IN CROATIA

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Tatjana Masten

2004-06-01

Full Text Available The quarantine pest tobacco whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius, 1889 was for the first time found in Croatia in 2000 on some culture and weed plants in greenhouses and in the open field in the area from Trogir to Omiš. Monitoring of tobacco whitefly was organized in all counties (21. Eventual presence of tobacco whitefly adults on the plants in glasshouses was established by the hanging of yellow sticky traps. In the course of monitoring the undersides of leaves on host plants were inspected for the purpose of discovering pest nymphal and pupal stages. The plants of poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima produced as pest free plants have been used as catch plants in the conditions of lower infestation of host plants by tobacco whitefly adults. In three-year monitoring it was found out that poinsettia is the most atractive host plant for this pest between 38 host plants being registered during this monitoring. The fact that tobacco whitefly during the summer was found on the vegetables, ornamentals and weeds in the open fields in Dalmatia indicate that tobacco whitefly became domesticated and it can successfully overwinter in mediteranean climate conditions. During the monitoring tobacco whitefly was detected in 13 counties in our country, indicating shows that tobacco whitefly has been spreading progresivly since it was found in Croatia for the first time.

Intelligent Network in the Republic of Croatia

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Slavko Šarić

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The introduction of intelligence into the telecommunicationnetwork of Croatia is becoming one of the key elements ofthe future development of the network. The paper describes there-organisation of the telecommunication network in Croatia,the process of creating and managing the intelligent services,the initial situation and the feasible plan of introducing the INconcepts. The paper is concluded with a list of IN services thatare being introduced in the initial phase of the Croatian telecommunicationnetwork.

Epidemiological Characteristics of Dementia Treatment in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomasović, Sanja; Sremec, Josip; Košćak, Jelena; Klepac, Nataša; Draganić, Pero; Bielen, Ivan

2016-06-01

In spite of the increase in the number of patients with dementia in countries with older population, basic epidemiologic data are still scarce. The objective of this paper is to investigate pharmacoepidemiological characteristics of treatment of dementia in Croatia, and to present them in the context of certain epidemiological characteristics that illustrate the growing pressure this disease exerts on the healthcare system. Data on medication utilization were taken from Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) and Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices of Croatia (HALMED). Data on the number of hospital stays were supplied by Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ). Internal data on the number of outpatient examinations from the Clinical hospital "Sveti Duh" were used as well. In the observed period (2012-2014), 4568 patients were treated with anti-dementia medications, of which 1275 (32%) with donepezil, and 2753 (68%) with memantine. According to HALMED, the utilization of those medications is constantly increasing, and has increased manifold from 2005 to 2014. The estimate of the proportion of treated patients with dementia aged 60 years and over is around 9.2%. The number of dementia-related hospital stays is also increasing, and has increased by 9.6% in the last 5-year period, compared to the preceding 5-year period. The number of outpatient examinations in Clinical Hospital "Sveti Duh" grew from 351 in 2007 to 1151 in 2015 (January 1(st) - October 26(th)). The strain this condition exerts on the healthcare system is increasing yearly. In spite of the large increase in the medication utilization over the previous years, the proportion of treated patients is still small, and further increase in their use is to be expected. It is necessary to monitor this in the years ahead.

The external quality assessment scheme: Five years experience as a participating laboratory

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Chaudhary Rajendra

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Background and Aim : Quality assurance in blood banking includes active participation in the external quality program. Such a program offers valuable benefits to patient care, their safety, and an overall quality of laboratory practices. In the year 2002, we participated in the External Quality Assessment Scheme (EQAS under the World Health Organization (WHO, Bureau of Laboratory Quality Standards, Thailand. Materials and Methods: In the current study we evaluated our EQAS test result of the past five years, from 2003 to 2007. Test results of all blood samples such as ABO grouping, D typing, antibody screening, antibody identification, and transfusion transmitted infection (TTI testing were analyzed and documented. Results: Discordant results in one or more instances were observed with antibody identification, weak D testing, and tests for anti-HIV1/2 and HBsAg. Twice we failed to detect the ′anti-Mia′ antibody in the issued sample and that could be attributed to the absence of the corresponding antigen in the used cell panel. HBsAg was missed due to its critically low titer in the serum and the comparatively low sensitivity of our Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA test kit. Conclusion: All these failures in the last five years have helped us to significantly improve our transfusion service in terms of performance evaluation, patient care and safety issues, and the overall quality of laboratory practices. We therefore recommend all laboratories and hospitals to participate in the EQAS program, which will definitely help them to improve from what they learn.

COINTEGRATION ANALYSIS OF PURCHASING POWER PARITY IN REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

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Ivan Kozul

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the validity of purchasing power parity (PPP hypothesis in the Republic of Croatia. The main aim is to test whether the PPP Theory holds in the case of the Republic of Croatia and whether the PPP Theory is an appropriate method on which monetary policy makers can rely in determining the size of the market exchange rate deviations from its long-run value. The PPP Theory in the Republic of Croatia has been tested using methods of cointegration analysis. Two cointegration tests have been applied: Engle-Granger test and ADL test. The existence of the long-run relationship between the price level in the EMU (expressed in Croatian Kuna and the price level in the Republic of Croatia has been tested using monthly observations of average nominal Croatian Kuna exchange rate against Euro, Consumer Prices Index in the Republic of Croatia (2005=100 and the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices for the European Monetary Union (2005=100 in the period from January 2000. to December 2012. Based on the Engle-Granger test, it can't be concluded if there is a long-run relationship between the two price levels. The non-existence of the long-run relationship between two price levels has also been confirmed by the ADL cointegration test. Thus, on the basis of the cointegration tests it can be concluded that the PPP hypothesis in the Republic of Croatia has not been confirmed.

The biennial cycle of respiratory syncytial virus outbreaks in Croatia

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Drazenovic Vladimir

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract The paper analyses the epidemic pattern of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV outbreaks in children in Croatia. Over a period of 11 consecutive winter seasons (1994–2005 3,435 inpatients from Zagreb County aged from infancy to 10 years who were hospitalised with acute respiratory tract infections were tested for RSV-infection. RSV was identified in nasopharyngeal secretions of patients by virus isolation in cell culture and by detection of viral antigen with monoclonal antibodies. In the Zagreb area, RSV outbreaks were proven to vary in a two-year cycle, which was repeated every 23–25 months. This biennial cycle comprised one larger and one smaller season. Climate factors correlated significantly with the number of RSV cases identified only in the large seasons, which suggests that the biennial cycle is likely to continue regardless of meteorological conditions. Knowledge of this biennial pattern should be useful in predicting the onset of RSV outbreaks in Croatia, and would facilitate planning for the prevention and control of RSV infections in the region.

Type distribution of lymphomas in Lebanon: five-year single institution experience.

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Sader-Ghorra, Claude; Rassy, Marc; Naderi, Samah; Kourie, Hampig Raphael; Kattan, Joseph

2014-01-01

Lymphomas represent the fifth most frequent cancer in Lebanon. However, little is known concerning epidemiologic characteristics and distribution of lymphoid neoplasms according to the 2008 WHO classification. We conducted a retrospective study of lymphoma cases diagnosed from 2008 till 2012 at Hotel-Dieu de France University Hospital. A total of 502 new cases of lymphoma were diagnosed at our institution during a five year period: 119 cases (24%) were Hodgkin lymphomas (HL) and 383 cases (76%) were non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). HLs were equally distributed in both sexes with a mean age at diagnosis of 30 years. Among NHL, 87% (332 cases) were B cell lymphomas, 9% (34 cases) were T cell lymphomas and 4%(17 cases) were classified as precursor lymphoid neoplasms. Among B cell lymphomas, 44% (147 cases) were diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCL), 20% (65 cases) follicular lymphomas and 8% (27 cases) mantle cell lymphomas. DLBCL were equally distributed in both sexes with a mean age of 58 years. Follicular lymphomas were characterized by a male predominance (57%) and a mean age of 60 years. Mantle cell lymphomas showed a pronounced male predominance (85%) with a mean age of 60 years in men and 70 years in women. Some 72% of patients having T cell lymphomas were men, with a mean age of 57 years in men and 45 years in women, while 65% of patients having precursor lymphoid neoplasms were women with a mean age of 22 years in women and 30 years in men. The lymphoma subtype distribution in Lebanon is unique when compared to other countries from around the world. In fact, Hodgkin and follicular lymphomas are more frequent than in most Far Eastern, European and American countries, while T-cell lymphomas and DLBCL are less frequent.

Citizenship Education in Croatia: At the Margins of the System

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Anka Kekez

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This paper unfolds the ways in which Croatia, as a young post-communist democracy, has aligned its transition and consolidation with the development of education programs that would support the protection of human rights and the creation of a democratic political culture. Design/methodology/approach: By combining the existing studies with the authors’ own analyses of documents and internet sources, as well as interviews with teachers, this paper reveals that by adopting vague and non-binding policies, the Croatian political elite has demonstrated a lack of political will and courage over the past twenty-five years to develop a systematic and quality-based citizenship education. Findings: After long-term negligence, in the most recent five-year period, the need to change the educational path has gained prominence on the policy and political agenda. However, the reform process did not result in bridging, but in the deepening of ideological divides within the Croatian society. With the officially adopted interdisciplinary and cross-curricular approach, the responsibility for carrying out citizenship education was placed in the hands of teachers, with civil society organizations taking a compensating role. Whilst the former lack practical education, as well as guidelines and resources to incorporate citizenship education into the subjects they teach, the latter are incapable of reaching out to a sufficient share of the youth population. The outcome is that the youth continuously displays inadequate levels of citizenship competences.

Organization of Proficiency Testing for Dairy Laboratories in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia in Order to Improve Quality Assurance

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Nataša Mikulec

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Participation in proficiency testing is not only an obligation for all analytical laboratories which tend to be credible, but also an opportunity to check how the results agree with the reference or assign value. The Reference Laboratory for Milk and Dairy Products of the Dairy Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture University of Zagreb, is itself incorporated in the proficiency testing organized by dairy laboratories from Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland and Slovenia. The aim is to find out its own accuracy and reliability in particular milk and dairy products analyses. On the basis of seven years experience of participating in proficiency testing, five years ago the Reference Laboratory started organizing its own proficiency testing for dairy laboratories in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia for milk components such as milk fat, protein, lactose and somatic cells count. The results of the analyses have been statistically analyzed and, on the basis of Z-score, the successful measurements have been estimated. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the organisation and data processing of proficiency testing for milk fat, protein, lactose and somatic cells count in milk for the involved dairy laboratories.

78 FR 70480 - Federal Acquisition Regulation; New Designated Country-Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-25

... Organization Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA). On July 1, 2013, Croatia joined the European Union..., 2013, the WTO Committee on Government Procurement approved the application of the WTO GPA to Croatia... Organization Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA) [[Page 70481

40 CFR 68.42 - Five-year accident history.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 15 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Five-year accident history. 68.42... (CONTINUED) CHEMICAL ACCIDENT PREVENTION PROVISIONS Hazard Assessment § 68.42 Five-year accident history. (a) The owner or operator shall include in the five-year accident history all accidental releases from...

THE EUROPEAN CORN BORER (OSTRINIA NUBILALIS HÜBNER REVIEW OF RESULTS FROM CROATIA

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Marija Ivezić

2001-06-01

Full Text Available European Corn Borer (ECB - (Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner is one of the most important pest on corn in Croatia. In the last decade corn production was on over 400 000 ha, in Eastern Croatia. Although ECB is present every year, with no such a low intensity, their control is not implemented. Corn is grown in monoculture, at 40% of cornfields, which also has influence on spreading of ECB. In the last ten years average attack of ECB was 51.5%; been done three different kinds of trials for controlling ECB. First trials were carried out in DeKalb hybrids, and ECB was controlled by Biobit XL, on the base of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner. Intensity of attack was decreased for 46%. Second trial was carried out in ten hybrids, in order to determine the tolerance of hybrids against ECB. It was identified that several domestic hybrids (OSSK 382, OSSK 664 and BC 462 are tolerant to ECB. The third trial was carried out with GM hybrids. Experiments included Pioneer hybrids Evelina Bt, and Landia Bt. Intensity of attack at Evelina standard was 52%, while in Evelina Bt, ECB wasn't present at all. At Landia standard ECB was present on 98%, while in Landia Bt, intensity of attack was 21%. At both Bt hybrids, number of larvae and tunnels was lower comparing to standard hybrids. Length of damage in Landia check was 20.66 cm, while in Landia Bt it was 0.45 cm. The yield was increased for 10.27% at Evelina Bt, and for 26.67% in Landia Bt comparing to their standards. This kind of experiments will be continued in the future, not only because of its agronomic importance, but also because of its ecological relevance.

A longitudinal study of women's memories of their childbirth experiences at five years postpartum.

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Takehara, Kenji; Noguchi, Makiko; Shimane, Takuya; Misago, Chizuru

2014-07-05

Few studies have investigated whether women can accurately recall their birthing experiences after a long period. We investigated the consistency of women's memories of their childbirth experiences between those at a few days postpartum and 5 years later. This prospective cohort study comprised 1,168 women who delivered at a maternity hospital and four maternity homes in Japan between May 2002 and August 2003. Data were collected using structured interviews and transcriptions from medical records. The childbirth experience was assessed using the Childbirth Experience Scale (CBE-Scale) at a few days postpartum and 5 years later. We obtained 584 (50.0%) valid responses from women who completed the survey at a few days postpartum and 5 years later. Significant differences were observed in 16 out of 18 items on the CBE-Scale when responses were compared at both time points. Women who answered "yes" to any item on the CBE-Scale at the baseline survey tended to demonstrate a more precise recollection for that item 5 years after childbirth than those who answered "no" for the corresponding item. We conclude that women remember their childbirth experience clearly at 5 years after the childbirth.

Selected aspects of tobacco control in Croatia.

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Loubeau, Patricia R

2009-03-01

This paper seeks to outline the challenges of tobacco consumption control in the transitional economy of Croatia. It focuses on issues of taxation, high unemployment, and smuggling while attempting to meet European Union (EU) accession requirements for tobacco control legislation that reduces smoking consumption. The issue of tobacco control is not a simple one and requires a multi-pronged approach. While Croatia has made good progress in adopting legislation, it needs to strengthen its efforts both in terms of enforcement and increased taxation of cigarettes.

Error identification in a high-volume clinical chemistry laboratory: Five-year experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Jafri, Lena; Khan, Aysha Habib; Ghani, Farooq; Shakeel, Shahid; Raheem, Ahmed; Siddiqui, Imran

2015-07-01

Quality indicators for assessing the performance of a laboratory require a systematic and continuous approach in collecting and analyzing data. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of errors utilizing the quality indicators in a clinical chemistry laboratory and to convert errors to the Sigma scale. Five-year quality indicator data of a clinical chemistry laboratory was evaluated to describe the frequency of errors. An 'error' was defined as a defect during the entire testing process from the time requisition was raised and phlebotomy was done until the result dispatch. An indicator with a Sigma value of 4 was considered good but a process for which the Sigma value was 5 (i.e. 99.977% error-free) was considered well controlled. In the five-year period, a total of 6,792,020 specimens were received in the laboratory. Among a total of 17,631,834 analyses, 15.5% were from within hospital. Total error rate was 0.45% and of all the quality indicators used in this study the average Sigma level was 5.2. Three indicators - visible hemolysis, failure of proficiency testing and delay in stat tests - were below 5 on the Sigma scale and highlight the need to rigorously monitor these processes. Using Six Sigma metrics quality in a clinical laboratory can be monitored more effectively and it can set benchmarks for improving efficiency.

Impact of the economic crisis on the roadworthiness of vehicles in the Republic of Croatia

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Stipe BILIĆ

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The impact of the economic crisis, i.e. the decrease in purchasing power in the Republic of Croatia, has been reflected negatively on the sales of new road vehicles and the maintenance plan of used road vehicles. A comparison of the results of technical inspections on vehicle roadworthiness has indicated a slight increase in unroadworthy vehicles, with a tendency for this to increase. Unroadworthiness and the average age of vehicles amounting to 12.18 years prompt for thinking about road safety in the Republic of Croatia. This paper aims to establish the extent of the increase in vehicle unroadworthiness and the importance of its reduction in order to increase road safety. The Republic of Croatia has adopted the National Road Safety Program for 2011-2020, accepting thereby a task that will be difficult to accomplish without organising training on the importance of vehicle roadworthiness.

PARTICULARITIES AND THREATS ON THE BIODIVERSITY FROM CROATIA

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Andreea BĂLTĂREŢU

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Because it has a specific geographic position and it’s situated at the crossroads of several bio-geographical regions and as a result of its ecological characteristics, the climate and geo-morphological conditions, Croatia is one of the wealthiest countries from Europe concerning the biodiversity. The great variety of the territory, maritime and underground habitats has determined the existence of numerous species and subspecies, including a significant number of endemic species. Although the climate of Croatia has a great value, many of its components are threatened. The most important threats of wild species are losing the habitats and the degradation. Because of its shape and its position in Europe, Croatia has very rich landscape diversity. Croatia contains significant populations of many species that are threatened at the European level. These are connected to preserved large areas of their habitats. Vast mountain beech and fir forests are rich in bear, wolf and lynx populations. Large wetland complexes with alluvial forests are important breeding, the migration and wintering sites for European water birds and for wetland birds nesting in forests. The wealth of marine biodiversity, in combination with the immense diversity of islands and cliffs with endemic life forms, gives the Croatian coastal area international significance.

The 2010 five-yearly review has started

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Association du personnel

2009-01-01

Every five years, the financial and social conditions of members of the personnel are examined according to the procedures defined in Annex A1 of the Staff Rules and Regulations (SR&R). This exercise is called the “five-yearly review” (5YR).

Real-time soft error rate measurements on bulk 40 nm SRAM memories: a five-year dual-site experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Autran, J. L.; Munteanu, D.; Moindjie, S.; Saad Saoud, T.; Gasiot, G.; Roche, P.

2016-11-01

This paper reports five years of real-time soft error rate experimentation conducted with the same setup at mountain altitude for three years and then at sea level for two years. More than 7 Gbit of SRAM memories manufactured in CMOS bulk 40 nm technology have been subjected to the natural radiation background. The intensity of the atmospheric neutron flux has been continuously measured on site during these experiments using dedicated neutron monitors. As the result, the neutron and alpha component of the soft error rate (SER) have been very accurately extracted from these measurements, refining the first SER estimations performed in 2012 for this SRAM technology. Data obtained at sea level evidence, for the first time, a possible correlation between the neutron flux changes induced by the daily atmospheric pressure variations and the measured SER. Finally, all of the experimental data are compared with results obtained from accelerated tests and numerical simulation.

Periodontal diseases at the transition from the late antique to the early mediaeval period in Croatia.

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Vodanović, Marin; Peroš, Kristina; Zukanović, Amila; Knežević, Marjana; Novak, Mario; Slaus, Mario; Brkić, Hrvoje

2012-10-01

We tested the hypothesis that the transition from the late antique to the early mediaeval period in Croatia had a negative impact on the periodontal health. 1118 skulls were examined for dental calculus, alveolar bone resorption, fenestrations, dehiscences and root furcation involvement. The prevalence of teeth with calculus varied from 40.7% in the LA sample of continental parts of Croatia to 50.3% in the LA sample of Adriatic Croatia. The prevalence of alveolar bone resorption ranged between 21.2% in the EM sample from continental Croatia and 32.3% in the LA sample from Adriatic Croatia. The prevalence of individuals with alveolar bone dehiscences varied from 8.6% in the LA sample from continental Croatia up to 15.0% in the EM sample from Adriatic Croatia. The prevalence of individuals with alveolar bone fenestrations varied from 21.5% in the LA sample from Adriatic Croatia up to 36.2% in the LA sample from continental Croatia. The prevalence of individuals with exposed root bifurcations or trifurcations varied from 9.0% in the EM sample from Adriatic Croatia up to 20.7% in the EM sample from continental Croatia. Statistically significant differences were found between samples. The transition from the late antique to the early mediaeval period in Croatia did not have a negative impact on periodontal health. Studies of periodontal health of ancient populations should be performed to provide a better and more reliable reconstruction of living conditions in the past. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Incidence of Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack in Croatia: A Population Based Study.

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Kadojić, Dragutin; Demarin, Vida; Dikanović, Marinko; Lusić, Ivo; Tuskan-Mohar, Lidija; Trkanjec, Zlatko; Mihaljević, Ivan; Kadojić, Mira; Bitunjac, Milan; Vranjes, Zeljko

2015-09-01

The aim of this population based neuroepidemiological study was to establish the real incidence rates of acute cerebrovascular disease (CVD): stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) in the Republic of Croatia. Multicentric study included 89 501 persons of all ages in four regional centres in Croatia: Zagreb, Osijek + Slavonski Brod, Rijeka and Split. The following incidence rates of stroke, expressed at population of 100 000, have been established: Zagreb 290.52, Osijek + Slavonski Brod 302.14, Rijeka 219.65, Split 195.82. Incidence rate of stroke for the Republic of Croatia is 251.39. The following incidence rates of TIA, expressed at population of 100,000, have been established: Zagreb 87.15, Osijek + Slavonski Brod 156.53, Rijeka 90.11, Split 59.10. Incidence rate of TIA for the Republic of Croatia is 100.55. In the continental part of Croatia (Zagreb, Osijek + Slavonski Brod) incidence rate of stroke is higher by 45%, while incidence rate of TIA is higher by 82% than in the coastal part of Croatia, probably due to different lifestyle and environmental factors. The study has shown relatively high incidence rates of acute CVD (stroke and TIA) in the Republic of Croatia, which proves that CVD are a great public health problem.

After Twenty-Five Years: A Twenty-Five Year Follow-up Study of Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High School Graduates of the Class of June 1953.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, William; Zanzalari, J. Henry

A twenty-five-year follow-up study was conducted to determine the occupational, educational, marital and armed forces experiences of the graduating class of 1953 from the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical high schools located in New Brunswick, Perth, Amboy, and Woodbridge, New Jersey. Data, in the form of questionnaire responses, were…

The Epidemiological Characteristics of Hepatitis B in Croatia: The Results of the Prevention.

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Kljajić, Zlatko; Petricević, Josko; Poljak, Nikola Kolja; Pranić, Shelly; Mulić, Rosanda

2015-09-01

This study shows epidemiological characteristics and preventive measures implemented for the prevention and control of hepatitis B infections in Croatia. We analyzed the data from obligatory infectious disease reports and notifications of death due to infectious diseases, data on the hepatitis B infections in Croatia, and data collected by survey of the population. The average prevalence of the disease is 3.67 per 100,000 annually. All age groups are affected, but still a higher rate of the disease is found in the age groups from 15-19 and 20-29 years of age. Hepatitis B disease is 1.4 times more likely in men than in women. For the past 18 years, the average rate of mortality was 0.2%. The incidence of HbsAg-positive donors of blood is within the range of 0.65% in 1992 to 0.012% in 2011. The largest part of preventive measures implemented in Croatia against hepatitis B is predicted and required by legislation. The registrations of acute and chronic carriers of the virus are obligatory. High-risk groups have started being vaccinated since 1992. The obligatory vaccination of infants was introduced in the mandatory vaccination program in 2007. Routine testing of blood exclusively from voluntary donors for HbsAg presence is obligatory. The non-governmental organization "Help" created for intravenous drug users, along with the "Harm reduction" program implemented hepatitis B, C, and HIV/AIDS prevention program in 1995. In order to gain a better understanding of epidemiological characteristics of hepatitis B in Croatia, the specifics of its dynamics in small communities are required since the research of Croatian public health officials and researchers have shown that hepatitis B is spread in different ways.

Power Generation Strategy Development in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Curkovic, A.; Androcec, I.; Tarnik, T.

2010-01-01

Electricity generation as an economic sector contributes to the national GDP through increasing investments and exports. In the period from 2000 to 2008 the annual growth rate of final electricity demand was 3,8% which was higher than for any other energy form. Almost 1200 MW of thermal power plants will go out of system due to lifetime (more than 30 years). Energy Strategy is a basic document of the Energy Act with the purpose to define energy policy and future plans for energy development of the Republic of Croatia till 2020. Based on the adopted strategy the Government will create the Energy Strategy Implementation Programme for the four-year period. Croatian's energy development should be based on best available technologies as well as on energy-related, economic and environmental assessment of all available energy options. Energy strategy of Croatia (NN 130/09) puts up next goals: 300 MW hydro power plants (bigger than 10 MW), 1200 MW gas-fired thermal power plants (including 300 MW of cogeneration), 1200 MW of coal-fired thermal power plants, and 35% of renewable (including hydro). The market, i.e. a competitive generation, is the driving force in the construction of new power plants. The main stimulus for the construction is the possibility of definite return of invested capital as well as earning of reasonable profit for investors. Choose of location, environmental impact and competitiveness are main criteria for decision making. Technological and financial terms of new power plant is under influence of the law of supply and demand, so short marginal costs are in the first view - power plant life is at least 30 years - how to deal with this conditions, who will invest in long-term projects with condition of short pay-back period. Climate change and greenhouse gas emissions have become a priority development issue. The main challenge is a long-term development of economy with decreased emission of carbon dioxide. Kyoto protocol obligations, Copenhagen Accord

SYSTEMIC RESEARCH MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT OF MARKETING THOUGHT AND EDUCATION IN CROATIA

OpenAIRE

Renko, Nataša

2001-01-01

The author conceived the model for systemic research of development of marketing thought and education in Croatia. The model consists of six elements which are completely interactive and have essential influence on development of marketing educational system. The model also helped to evaluate historical occurences which had preceded and influenced the present situation in Croatia, and which might have possible consequences to future development of marketing educational system in Croatia.

Rivalry of domestic and foreign retailers in Croatia

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Dario Dunković

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Foreign retailers are gaining progressively more of the Croatian retail market share. This paper is an analysis of the retail structure in the Republic of Croatia (sector G – 52, with respect to the origin of trading companies (domestic and foreign retailers, to their size (small, medium and large companies and to sub-sectors within a sector G – 52. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of causes underlying the foreign retailers’ expansion regarding their business success. The paper includes an analysis of the structure of household consumption in the Republic of Croatia as an important condition for the development of the retail structure. The analysis involves the indicators of domestic and foreign retailers’ business success: the turnover per one trading company and the turnover per one employee of the trading company. The comparison of these indicators for domestic and foreign retailers lead to certain differences (foreign retailers are slightly more productive than the domestic retailers and to the evaluation of the differences caused by the size of the company. Since a correlation of the size of the structure of domestic and foreign trading companies in certain sub-sectors within sector G –52 must not exist, the conclusion suggests itself in the form of a need to investigate other features of the retail structure. The research is related to the year 2001. Nevertheless, the research presented in the paper points at an inadequate adaptability of domestic retailers to the structure of demand in the Republic of Croatia as the cause of the insufficient trading success.

Energy in Croatia 2007, Annual Energy Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

With a great deal of pleasure we present the sixteenth edition of the review Energy in Croatia. With this Review the Ministry of Economy, Labor and Entrepreneurship continues the practice of informing domestic and foreign public on relations and trends within the Croatian energy sector. This Review gives data and characteristic values relevant to the Croatian energy sector, providing an overview on energy production and consumption at all levels. There is a detailed analysis of the trends present in the energy sector as well as a number of information on capacities, reserves, prices and energy balances for crude oil, all petroleum products, natural gas, electricity, heat energy, coal and renewable energy sources. The Review also brings the main economic and financial indicators, data on air pollutant emissions and main energy efficiency indicators. It also gives the ODEX energy efficiency index, which is determined according to the methodology used in the European Union. This indicator monitors the energy efficiency trends over a period of time in the sectors of industry, transport, households and in total consumption. Finally, the Review brings the energy balances of the Republic of Croatia for the years 2006 and 2007, made following the EUROSTAT and IEA methodologies. Total annual energy consumption in Croatia in 2007 increased by 1.5 percent from the previous year. At the same time gross domestic product increased by 5.6 percent, which resulted in a continuing energy intensity reduction, by 3.8 percent. In relation the European Union (EU 27), energy intensity in Croatia was 16.5 percent above the European average. In 2007 the Croatian production of primary energy decreased by 6.4 percent. The production decrease was recorded in most of primary energy forms. The only energy forms with growing production in 2007 were natural gas production and energy from renewable sources. Due to unfavorable hydrology in 2007, hydro power utilization decreased by 27.4 percent

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the old institutionalized people in Zagreb, Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Nevajda, Branimir; Havelka-Mestrović, Ana; Bilić, Morana; Nevajda, Andreja Podvez; Romić, Dominik; Vuletić, Vladimira; Cukljek, Snjezana; Sicaja, Mario; Bocina, Zeljko

2013-03-01

Metabolic syndrome (MeS) is defined by a cluster of abnormalities comprising obesity, hypertension, carbohydrate intolerance and dyslipidemia. MeS increases the risk of developing various diseases, including coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral angiopathy and type 2 diabetes. In our study, the subjects were 561 persons, residents of 11 homes for the elderly in Zagreb, Croatia. There were 160 men (28.5%) and 401 women (71.5%), aged from 56 to 96 years (the average being 79 years). Physical examination was conducted, which included blood pressure measurement, and body height and weight. Blood samples were taken for biochemical analysis. Along with other biochemical parameters, the levels of glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol (LDL, HDL-C) were also measured. The results have shown the prevalence of MeS in the elderly instutionalised people to be in the range of 20.8%, according to WHO criteria. The most common MeS component was hypertension, and it was significantly more frequent in women than in men; also, the elevated triglyceride levels were more often found in women; the difference between men and women was also statistically significant. MeS is a serious and growing health problem not only in Croatia but worldwide as well. Further studies are needed to verify the prevalence of MeS in Croatia, as it is a major risk for CVD and many other severe diseases.

The Child Health Care System of Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mestrovic, Julije; Bralic, Irena; Simetin, Ivana Pavic; Mujkic, Aida; Radonić, Marija; Rodin, Urelija; Trošelj, Mario; Stevanović, Ranko; Benjak, Tomislav; Pristaš, Ivan; Mayer, Dijana; Tomić, Branimir

2016-10-01

The Republic of Croatia is a Parliamentary Republic with a population of 4.2 million people that sits on the Adriatic coast within Central Europe. Gross domestic product is approximately 60% of the European Union average, which in turn, limits health service spending. The health system is funded through universal health insurance administered by the Croatian Health Insurance Fund based on the principles of social solidarity and reciprocity. The children of Croatia are guaranteed access to universal primary, hospital, and specialist care provided by a network of health institutions. Pediatricians and school medicine specialists provide comprehensive preventive health care for both preschool and school-aged children. Despite the Croatian War of Independence in the late 20th century, indicators of child health and measures of health service delivery to children and families are steadily improving. However, similar to many European countries, Croatia is experiencing a rise in the "new morbidities" and is responding to these new challenges through a whole society approach to promote healthy lifestyles and insure good quality of life for children. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Five years' experience of classical swine fever polymerase chain reaction ring trials in France.

Science.gov (United States)

Po, F; Le Dimna, M; Le Potier, M F

2011-12-01

Since 2004, the French National Reference Laboratory for classical swine fever (CSF) has conducted an annual proficiency test (PT) to evaluate the ability of local veterinary laboratories to perform real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for CSF virus. The results of five years of testing (2004-2008) are described here. The PT was conducted under blind conditions on 20 samples. The same batch of samples was used for all five years. The number of laboratories that analysed the samples increased from four in 2004 to 13 in 2008. The results of the PT showed the following: cross-contamination between samples and deficiencies in RNA preparation can occur even in experienced laboratories; sample homogeneity should be checked carefully before selection; samples stored at-80 degrees C for several years remain stable; and poor shipment conditions do not damage the samples with regard to detection of CSF virus genome. These results will enable redesign of the panel to improve the overall quality of the PT, which will encourage laboratories to check and improve their PCR procedures and expertise. This is an excellent way to determine laboratory performance.

THE RESEARCH IN FISH GENETICS IN CROATIA AND FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomislav Treer

1994-03-01

Full Text Available This is a review on fish genetics research in Croatia and former Yugoslavia, based on the analyses of all the articles published in four main journals (Ribarstvo Jugoslavije, Morsko ribarstvo, Ichthyologia and Acta Adriatica since 1945 till disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991. Most of the papers cover the fields on cytogenetics and hybridization (24 and 13 respectively. Eight papers were on fish selection and five on population genetics. Apart from those, five papers were written by foreign authors. Two groups of researchers from the University of Sarajevo were specially active. One of them lead by B e r b e r o v i ć and S o f r a d ž i j a did extensive work in cytogenetics, analyzing the karyotypes of many fish species, some of them endemic. Another one lead by V u k o v i ć , investigated some natural hybrids and created many of them artificially, particulary among cyprinids. These results are presented in a special table. Contrary to the mountainous Bosnia where this type of research was of systematic and ecologic importance, in Croatia whwrw aquaculture was highly developed, the approach was quite different. The scientists from the University of Zagreb, H a b e k o v i ć and T u r k , studied the hybridization and selection of important cultured cyprinids. Apart from these scientific groups, many papers were published by A l - S a b t i , who later became world famous in fish cytogenetics. The works of many other authors who contributed with papers in different fields of fish genetics are also described.

DEVELOPMENT OF FRANCHISING IN CROATIA OBSTACLES AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

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Mirela Alpeza

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Franchising is very popular growth model but despite the wide application of franchising in the developed countries of the world, its impact on the Croatian economy is still marginal. The purpose of this research is to identify the obstacles and challenges to a wider application of franchising in Croatia and generate policy recommendations for removing the identified obstacles. Obstacles and recommendations are identified on the basis of a conducted longitudinal qualitative research, the first phase of which was conducted in 2006, and second in 2014. The overall results of this research were presented in a form of PEST analysis and compared with the results of the 2006 research aiming to detect changes (improvements/ deterioration in individual areas of the research political, economic, legal and technologic factors of influence on the development of franchising in Croatia. Based on the detected changes, conclusions and policy recommendations were identified.The obstacles can be divided in two categories: franchising specific barriers and general business related obstacles for doing business in Croatia. Without removing most of these obstacles, it is unrealistic to expect high growth of franchising activities in Croatia in near future.

The Roma in Croatia: From Migration to Intercultural Relations

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Neven Hrvatić

2004-12-01

Full Text Available From their first arrival in Croatia (in Dubrovnik in 1362, due to their transnational identity, the Roma have formed a historical ethnic community. A specific tribal system and economic backwardness determined their dispersion, specialisation, the partial loss of their ethnic identity and their marginal position. Based on empirical surveys carried out among secondary school students in Croatia, the scientific research projects: “Genealogy and the Transfer of Intercultural Models” and “The School Curriculum and the Traits of Croatian National Culture” (1991–2001, have revealed the existence of stereotypes in regard to the Roma, a low level of acceptance of elements of Roma culture (language, art, history, customs, as well as great social distance towards the Roma (through a modified Bogardus scale, which altogether indicates a need for intercultural education and schooling for all school pupils in Croatia. An improvement in their socio-economic situation and integration into all segments of society is crucial to the Roma national minority in Croatia, but there is likewise a need to preserve Roma culture, traditions and lifestyle, so that the Roma could become and/or remain a recognisable part of the multicultural milieu.

THE IMPACTS OF THE COMMON CONSOLIDATED CORPORATE TAX BASE IN CROATIA

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Sabina Hodžić

2015-12-01

Full Text Available As of 1 July 2013, i.e. with Croatia’s accession to the European Union, the number of Member States of the European Union rose to 28. The diversity of tax systems among the Member States causes interferences in cross-border activities of tax firms. That encourages transfer of income to countries with lower tax rates. The aim of this paper is to present the main points of view on the implications of the introduction of the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB in Croatia. This paper also estimates the effects of the prospective apportionment procedure on corporate group entities in Croatia. The acceptance of the CCCTB system will make Croatia attractive to foreign investors. It will also enable foreign multinational companies to do business in Croatia, which will contribute to its economic growth.

Comparison of several hydrological cycle parameters in Croatia for two periods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pandzic, Kreso; Trninic, Dusan

2004-01-01

Comparison of several hydrological cycle parameter averages for two periods in Croatia is considered. Parameters are: yearly averages of: 2m air temperature, precipitation amounts, potential and real evapotranspiration amounts. A basic period (1951-1980) and period for comparison (1981-1997) have been chosen. (These periods accepted at The First Sub-Regional Expert Meeting on the 'Assesment of Climate Change Impacts on the Hydrological Cycles in South-Eastern Europe' held in Sofia (Bulgaria) 17-20 February 1999.) Differences between two period averages for 30 weather stations have been calculated. Temperature differences and those for potential evaporation are positive while for precipitation they are mainly negative. Real evaporation differences for two periods are an exception i.e. they are positive in continental but negative in Mediterranean part of Croatia. These results agree with global warming trend. (Author)

Environmental restoration and waste management five year plan, fiscal years 1994--1998

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

In March 1989, Secretary of Energy James D. Watkins outlined his vision for a changed Department of Energy (DOE) culture. This culture is one of envirorunental responsibility, increased knowledge and involvement in environmental management, a new openness to public input, and overall accountability to the Nation for its actions. Secretary Watkins also requested all the near-term activities necessary to bring DOEactivities into compliance with all applicable environmental requirements to be detailed in one plan. The Five-Year Plan was to be based on a ''bottom up'' approach to planning by using Activity Data Sheets to collect financial and technical information at the installation level. Over the past three years, the Five-Year Plan has evolved into the primary planning tool for the DOE Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program, looking beyond the current three-year Federal budget horizon. The FY 1994--1998 Five-Year Plan demonstrates DOE's commitment to a culture based on the principles of openness, responsiveness, and accountability; reports on the progress made in carrying out DOE's environmental mission; identifies what must be accomplished during a five-year planning period; and describes strategies for achieving critical program objectives. This plan represents another step towards the implementation of the culture change Secretary Watkins envisioned. The Five-Year Plan is not exclusively focused on near-term activities. Italso expresses the DOE commitment to a 30-year goal for the cleanup of the 1989 inventory of inactive sites. The FY 1994--1998 Five-Year Plan reiterates the DOE commitment to meeting this and other important environmental goals

The 2015 five-yearly review

CERN Multimedia

Staff Association

2014-01-01

  This year CERN celebrates its 60th anniversary. On this occasion, throughout Europe — most recently on July 1st at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris — festivities are being organized to celebrate the Organization’s success as a flagship laboratory of high-energy physics. To ensure that CERN can remain a centre of excellence in the field of fundamental research, the Organization verifies every five years with the help of a five-yearly review procedure whether the financial and social conditions which it proposes to Staff Members allow it to recruit and retain Staff Members of the highest competence and integrity required for the execution of its mission from all its Member States. For Fellows these conditions should remain attractive compared with those in comparable research institutions, while for Associated members of personnel these conditions should allow it to host them in its research facilities taking into account the highest cost-of-living level in the local ...

The energy community: evaluation, five years later

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boodts, A.

2010-01-01

In October 2005,the European Community and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and UNMIK on behalf of Kosovo signed the Treaty establishing the Energy Community, which role is to provide for the creation of a single energy market and the mechanism for the operation of markets. This document first presents the energy situation and challenges in south-western Europe, and then recalls the role of the Energy Community, its organization, legislation and first results. It then discusses the enlargements of the Community in eastern Europe, Turkey, Caucasus and central Asia, and examines its possible perspectives following the enlargement (success or dilution) and its future role

Comparing pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in Croatia to the European Union Member States.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogler, Sabine; Habl, Claudia; Bogut, Martina; Voncina, Luka

2011-04-15

To perform a comparative analysis of the pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement systems in Croatia and the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. Knowledge about the pharmaceutical systems in Croatia and the 27 EU Member States was acquired by literature review and primary research with stakeholders. Pharmaceutical prices are controlled at all levels in Croatia, which is also the case in 21 EU Member States. Like many EU countries, Croatia also applies external price referencing, i.e., compares prices with other countries. While the wholesale remuneration by a statutorily regulated linear mark-up is applied in Croatia and in several EU countries, the pharmacy compensation for dispensing reimbursable medicines in the form of a flat rate service fee in Croatia is rare among EU countries, which usually apply a linear or regressive pharmacy mark-up scheme. Like in most EU countries, the Croatian Social Insurance reimburses specific medicines at 100%, whereas patients are charged co-payments for other reimbursable medicines. Criteria for reimbursement include the medicine's importance from the public health perspective, its therapeutic value, and relative effectiveness. In Croatia and in many EU Member States, reimbursement is based on a reference price system. The Croatian pharmaceutical system is similar to those in the EU Member States. Key policies, like external price referencing and reference price systems, which have increasingly been introduced in EU countries are also applied in Croatia and serve the same purpose: to ensure access to medicines while containing public pharmaceutical expenditure.

Radiation protection infrastructure in the Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grgic, S.

2001-01-01

According to present legislation the organization structure of radiation protection in the Republic of Croatia is similar to the organizational structure in many countries of the world. Regulatory (competent) authority for the safe, traffic, purchase, import and transport of the radioactive sources is the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia. The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia is also responsible for the health of workers who work with the radioactive sources in medicine and in industry, as well for the health of patients and members of public. Furthermore, The Ministry of Health is also responsible for the follow-up of radioactivity in the human environment (air, soil, water - sea, lakes, rivers) and radioactive waste management. To be able to accomplish those tasks, The Ministry of Health developed two institutes, Croatian Institute for Radiation Protection and Croatian Institute for Occupational Medicine. For technical assistance and support The Ministry of Health authorized three expert institutions. (author)

Maryland physicians on a humanitarian mission to war-torn Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Laukenmann, B

1993-04-01

Six physicians from Maryland, California, and Utah participated in a 10-day humanitarian mission to Croatia. They spent long hours in antiquated operating rooms performing maxillofacial and extremity reconstructive procedures; most patients were young or war-injured males. Though not a third world country, Croatia urgently needs finances to acquire drugs, supplies, textbooks, and equipment.

Environmental restoration and waste management five-year plan, Fiscal years 1994--1998

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

In March 1989, Secretary of Energy James D. Watkins outlined his vision for a changed Department of Energy (DOE) culture. This culture is one of environmental responsibility, increased knowledge and involvement in environmental management, a new openness to public input, and overall accountability to the Nation for its actions. Over the past three years, the Five Year Plan has evolved into the primary planning tool for the DOE Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program, looking beyond the current three-year Federal budget horizon. The FY 1994--1998 Five-Year Plan demonstrates DOE's commitment to a culture based on the principles of openness, responsiveness, and accountability; reports on the progress made in carrying out DOE's environmental mission; identifies what must be accomplished during a five-year planning period; and describes strategies for achieving critical program objectives. The Five-Year Plan is not exclusively focused on near-term activities. It also expresses the DOE commitment to a 30-year goal for the cleanup of the 1989 inventory of inactive sites. This goal was established in response to recommendations from the State and Tribal Government Working Group (STGWG) that DOE define a specific end point for completing necessary remediation and restoration activities. The FY 1994--1998 Five-Year Plan reiterates the DOE commitment to meeting this and other important environmental goals

The Intensity and Impact of Consumer Animosity and Ethnocentrism in Croatia

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Matea Matić

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Consumers’ attitudes and feelings towards foreign products have been the subject of research in the field of consumer behaviour for years. Consumer ethnocentrism and animosity refer to the economic consequences of consumer purchasing choices as a result of consumers’ moral and social obligations or their emotional responses. Negative stereotypes and feelings can strongly affect consumers’ moral and social responsibility and thus their final choice to purchase a domestic or a foreign product. This paper aims to determine the difference in animosity and ethnocentric tendencies with regard to a particular region, county, and type and size of settlements in Croatia. Moreover, the objective of the paper was to assess the direction and size of the impact of consumer animosity towards the countries of former Yugoslavia on consumer ethnocentric tendencies. The research was conducted on a sample of 1,000 respondents in the Republic of Croatia. The data were collected through a questionnaire and analysed using factor analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA and the Pearson correlation coefficient to obtain relevant results. Analysis of variance has showed that there are significant differences in the consumer animosity and ethnocentric tendencies between counties and different types of settlements, but not between individual regions. The results also confirmed the correlation between consumer animosity towards the countries of former Yugoslavia and consumer ethnocentric tendencies in Croatia.

Five-year-old historian.

Science.gov (United States)

Morrison, Wynne

2017-12-01

In this poem, the author describes a doctor talking with a five-year-old child who has been brought to the hospital after being in a car accident with his/her mother and brother. The child is not able to remember the mother's name, but the doctor continues to talk with the child. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The Rise of Direct Democracy in Croatia: Balancing or Challenging Parliamentary Representation?

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Butković Hrvoje

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In 2010 the Croatian Constitution was changed to lower the requirements for the implementation of direct democracy at the national level, in order to save the referendum on Croatia’s EU membership from possible failure. Since then, Croatia has witnessed a sharp increase in people’s initiatives that have managed to block a number of the government’s reform proposals. Therefore, the newly discovered appeal of direct democracy in Croatia has created a new environment for the operation of its representative democracy. Starting from theoretical notions, this paper analyses the practice of direct democracy in selected transitional countries, which could be instructive for Croatia. In its central part, the paper explores the obstacles that stand in the way of the efficient implementation of direct democracy in Croatia.

Genetic structure and admixture between Bayash Roma from northwestern Croatia and general Croatian population: evidence from Bayesian clustering analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Novokmet, Natalija; Galov, Ana; Marjanović, Damir; Škaro, Vedrana; Projić, Petar; Lauc, Gordan; Primorac, Dragan; Rudan, Pavao

2015-01-01

The European Roma represent a transnational mosaic of minority population groups with different migration histories and contrasting experiences in their interactions with majority populations across the European continent. Although historical genetic contributions of European lineages to the Roma pool were investigated before, the extent of contemporary genetic admixture between Bayash Roma and non-Romani majority population remains elusive. The aim of this study was to assess the genetic structure of the Bayash Roma population from northwestern Croatia and the general Croatian population and to investigate the extent of admixture between them. A set of genetic data from two original studies (100 Bayash Roma from northwestern Croatia and 195 individuals from the general Croatian population) was analyzed by Bayesian clustering implemented in STRUCTURE software. By re-analyzing published data we intended to focus for the first time on genetic differentiation and structure and in doing so we clearly pointed to the importance of considering social phenomena in understanding genetic structuring. Our results demonstrated that two population clusters best explain the genetic structure, which is consistent with social exclusion of Roma and the demographic history of Bayash Roma who have settled in NW Croatia only about 150 years ago and mostly applied rules of endogamy. The presence of admixture was revealed, while the percentage of non-Croatian individuals in general Croatian population was approximately twofold higher than the percentage of non-Romani individuals in Roma population corroborating the presence of ethnomimicry in Roma.

Tax wedge in Croatia, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Greece

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Marin Onorato

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to compare the tax burden on labour income in Croatia, Austria, Greece, Hungary and Poland in 2013. The Taxing Wages methodology has been applied to hypothetical units across a range of gross wages in order to calculate net average tax wedge, net average tax rate, as well as other relevant indicators. When it comes to single workers without children, the smallest tax wedge for workers earning less than the average gross wage was found in Croatia, while Poland had the smallest tax wedge for above-average wages. Due to a progressive PIT system, the tax wedge for a single worker in Croatia reaches 50% at 400% of the average gross wage, equalling that of Austria, Greece and Hungary. Tax wedges for couples with two children show a similar trend.

Does Croatia Need a General Anti-Avoidance Rule? Recommended Changes to Croatia’s Current Legislative Framework

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Rebecca Prebble

2005-09-01

Full Text Available This paper considers whether Croatia would benefit from the introduction of a general anti-avoidance rule into its tax system. The paper gives an overview of what tax avoidance is and differentiates the concept from the related concepts of tax evasion and fraud. The paper then describes how general anti-avoidance rules work. The paper gives an overview of Croatia’s tax system, including the measures the country already has to combat tax avoidance, and concludes that a general anti-avoidance rule is necessary. The paper draws on the experiences of countries with legal systems similar to that of Croatia to suggest the form that a Croatian general anti-avoidance rule should take.

Comparing pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in Croatia to the European Union Member States

Science.gov (United States)

Vogler, Sabine; Habl, Claudia; Bogut, Martina; Vončina, Luka

2011-01-01

Aim To perform a comparative analysis of the pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement systems in Croatia and the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. Methods Knowledge about the pharmaceutical systems in Croatia and the 27 EU Member States was acquired by literature review and primary research with stakeholders. Results Pharmaceutical prices are controlled at all levels in Croatia, which is also the case in 21 EU Member States. Like many EU countries, Croatia also applies external price referencing, ie, compares prices with other countries. While the wholesale remuneration by a statutorily regulated linear mark-up is applied in Croatia and in several EU countries, the pharmacy compensation for dispensing reimbursable medicines in the form of a flat rate service fee in Croatia is rare among EU countries, which usually apply a linear or regressive pharmacy mark-up scheme. Like in most EU countries, the Croatian Social Insurance reimburses specific medicines at 100%, whereas patients are charged co-payments for other reimbursable medicines. Criteria for reimbursement include the medicine’s importance from the public health perspective, its therapeutic value, and relative effectiveness. In Croatia and in many EU Member States, reimbursement is based on a reference price system. Conclusion The Croatian pharmaceutical system is similar to those in the EU Member States. Key policies, like external price referencing and reference price systems, which have increasingly been introduced in EU countries are also applied in Croatia and serve the same purpose: to ensure access to medicines while containing public pharmaceutical expenditure. PMID:21495202

Sustainable development: five structural milestones for the next five-year term

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demailly, Damien; Treyer, Sebastien; Levai, David; Laurans, Yann; Rochette, Julien

2017-05-01

The energy transition, climate change, biodiversity, agriculture... the French President, the government and the new majority appointed by the 2017 elections will need to make some important decisions about sustainable development over the next five-year term. Their agenda will be marked in particular by five key events, not only in France, but also at the European and international levels. These five events will be opportunities to adapt the French economy to the major challenges of the 21. century, those of a regulated globalization, combining prosperity, social protection and environmental protection

Population Mobility in Croatia from a Life Course Perspective

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Ivan Čipin

2016-04-01

structures, thus allowing for direct comparisons of internal mobility between different populations and time periods. The data used to calculate migration expectancy in this paper are census-based and refer to people who moved to or within Croatia between April 1st 2010 and March 31st 2011. These are known as transition-type data (Courgeau, 1979; Rees et al., 2000 which count surviving (in-migrants rather than migration events. Internal migration intensities by sex and single years of age were obtained in accordance with existing recommendations for handling this sort of data (Rees et al., 2000. Resulting figures therefore pertain to migration probabilities conditional upon survival within the country. Key assumptions concerning migration expectancy are constant levels of mortality and internal population mobility, and movers changing residence only once during the observation period. Since migration expectancy calculation disregards the possibility of multiple moves within a given time interval, the outcome technically shows the number of years with one or more residential changes, rather than the number of residential changes in itself (Long, 1970, 1988: 297. However, the latter, looser definition of migration expectancy is commonly used for ease of interpretation. Before turning to analysis of migration expectancy, this paper considers variation of migration intensities by age. Internal migration age patterns are known to show persistent regularities (Rogers, Racquillet and Castro, 1978; Rogers and Castro, 1981, 1986; Rogers and Watkins, 1987; Raymer and Rogers, 2008. A formal representation of such regularities is provided by model migration schedules. Researchers identified four broad families of model migration schedules (Rogers and Castro, 1981, 1986; Rogers and Watkins, 1987; also see: Raymer and Rogers, 2008; Rogers, Little and Raymer, 2010; for a later extension see: Wilson, 2010. The standard age profile of internal migration exhibits a heightened propensity to

GAME MEAT MARKET IN EASTERN CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z. Tolušić

2006-12-01

Full Text Available In the Republic of Croatia, game meat is consumed far less than meat of domestic animals. Yearly game meat consumption amounts to only 0.55 kg per household member. Consumers prefer meat of domestic animals, because it is cheaper, not paying attention to specific nutritive advantages of game meat. A research on the game meat market and consumers’ preferences was carried out on 101 examinees, chosen among inhabitants of Slavonia and Baranja. The majority of questioned inhabitants did consume game meat (92%, of whom 66% consider game meat to be of better quality than meat of domestic animals. Significant number of examinees considers game meat as healthy food, being also convinced that game was healthier to consume if hunted in their natural environment, than if reared on specialized farms (90%. Irrespective of quality, only 22% of examinees buy game meat, and 51% think such meat is too expensive. This is the main reason why consumers have game meat only once a month (51%. Taking into consideration monthly income of their respective household, 58% of examinees can afford game meat only once a month, and, if having an opportunity, they would opt for meat of roe deer (55% and rabbit (25%. When asked what would stimulate the game meat market in Croatia, 56% of examinees believe this could be achieved by lowering of prices, 27% think the issue could be addressed by opening of specialty stores, and only 17% opted for more aggressive marketing activities.

AUDIT MARKET CONCENTRATION – EVIDENCE FROM CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanja Sever Mališ

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Statutory audit is designated to protect the public interest and has a significant impact on the overall economy. There are concerns that the Big Four audit firms have become too dominant and that the collapse of one of these firms would disrupt the whole financial system. In terms of revenues received, the total market share of the Big Four audit firms for listed companies exceeds 90% in a vast majority of European Union Member States. Prior studies have shown that high audit market concentration limits the choice of auditor for large companies and sets a high barrier of entry for mid-tier audit firms, while the effect on audit quality and audit fees is still unclear. Therefore, the regulators are considering reforms to dilute the Big Four’s dominance and improve competition in the audit market. The paper reviews the proposed and implemented measures that are the most common, together with their advantages and drawbacks. In addition, the characteristics of the audit market in Croatia are investigated, with a focus on market concentration measured by standard measures such as the Concentration rate, the Herfindahl Hirschman Index and the Gini coefficient. According to market shares based on total clients’ assets and revenues, the audit market for listed companies is moderately to highly concentrated, with a decrease in the five-year period (2013 compared to 2008.

From political capitalism to clientelist capitalism? The case of Croatia

OpenAIRE

Vladimir Cvijanovic; Denis Redzepagic

2011-01-01

The paper analyses the typology of capitalism in Croatia. The Croatian form of capitalism is specific, in form and origin, with links between the pre-independence and post-independence periods, implying that capitalism has gradually evolved – from the political during the eighties towards current clientelistic capitalism. The manufacturing focus aims to facilitate the analysis of institutional, political and economic changes over the past forty years, emphasising the implications of instituti...

Tariff System and Electricity Price in the Republic if Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Topic, J.; Jurisic, S.

1995-01-01

This paper describes the origin and development of Electricity Tariff System in Croatia with special emphasis on the tariff system established in 1991. The analyzed period of the application of the tariff system in force and all other tariff rates from 1991 to 1995 are the basis for the assessment of required and possible alternations of tariff rates till the year 2000. (author). 4 refs., 5 figs., 7 tabs., 1 plan

Cost-Utility Analysis of Depot Atypical Antipsychotics for Chronic Schizophrenia in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Jukic, Vlado; Jakovljevic, Miro; Filipcic, Igor; Herceg, Miroslav; Silic, Ante; Tomljanovic, Tatjana; Zilbershtein, Roman; Jensen, Rasmus C D; Hemels, Michiel E H; Einarson, Thomas R

As a nation with a developing economy, Croatia is faced with making choices between pharmaceutical products, including depot injectable antipsychotics. We conducted a pharmacoeconomic analysis to determine the cost-effectiveness of atypical depots in Croatia. A 1-year decision-analytic framework modeled drug use. We determined the average direct cost to the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance of using depot formulations of paliperidone palmitate long-acting injectable (PP-LAI), risperidone LAI (RIS-LAI), or olanzapine LAI (OLZ-LAI). An expert panel plus literature-derived clinical rates populated the core model, along with costs adjusted to 2012 by using the Croatian consumer price index. Clinical outcomes included quality-adjusted life-years, hospitalization rates, emergency room treatment rates, and relapse days. Robustness of results was examined with one-way sensitivity analyses on important inputs; overall, all inputs were varied over 10,000 simulations in a Monte Carlo analysis. Costs (quality-adjusted life-years) per patient were €5061 (0.817) for PP-LAI, €5168 (0.807) for RIS-LAI, and €6410 (0.812) for OLZ-LAI. PP-LAI had the fewest relapse days, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations. Results were sensitive against RIS-LAI with respect to drug costs and adherence rates, but were generally robust overall, dominating OLZ-LAI in 77.3% and RIS-LAI in 56.8% of the simulations. PP-LAI dominated the other drugs because it had the lowest cost and best clinical outcomes. Compared with depots of olanzapine and risperidone and oral olanzapine, PP-LAI was the cost-effective atypical LAI for treating chronic schizophrenia in Croatia. Using depot paliperidone in place of either olanzapine or risperidone would reduce the overall costs of caring for these patients. Copyright © 2013, International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc.

The analysis of tobacco consumption in Croatia--are we successfully facing the epidemic?

Science.gov (United States)

Padjen, Ivan; Dabić, Marina; Glivetić, Tatjana; Biloglav, Zrinka; Biočina-Lukenda, Dolores; Lukenda, Josip

2012-03-01

Tobacco is the largest cause of morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to analyse several health and economically related indicators of tobacco consumption: smoking prevalence, standardized death rates (SDRs) from lung cancer and the proportion of GDP spent on tobacco in Croatia and other transitional countries--the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria. The overall smoking prevalence in Croatia decreased by 5.2% during 1994-2005, more among females (-9.9%) than males (-0.3%). There is no significant difference in the smoking prevalence between Croatia (27.4%) and other countries. However, 33.8% of Croatian males smoked during 2002-2005, more than in Romania and the Czech Republic, and less than in Hungary and Poland. The prevalence of female smoking (21.7%) in Croatia is similar to the female smoking prevalence in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, but male smoking is predominant in all countries. The proportion of smokers among youth is above 20% and it is the highest in the Czech Republic (29.7%), followed by Hungary (26.7%), Slovenia (24.9%), Croatia (24.1%), and Poland (21.5%). The proportion of smokers among girls is higher than among boys in Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Croatia, contrary to Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Poland where boys smoke slightly more. There is no significant difference between the prevalence of smoking among girls in Croatia and Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, and Slovakia. According to the SDR from lung cancer in males (70.3/100,000), Croatia is ranked high assuming the 3rd place, after Hungary (99.7) and Poland (72.0). With a SDR of 15.9/100,000 for females, Croatia is ranked slightly better--5th place. Tobacco consumption continues to be a major public health problem in transitional countries. Croatia conducted several campaigns and programmes in the past. However, results reveal that current anti-tobacco strategies are ineffective in reducing

A longitudinal study of women’s memories of their childbirth experiences at five years postpartum

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Few studies have investigated whether women can accurately recall their birthing experiences after a long period. We investigated the consistency of women’s memories of their childbirth experiences between those at a few days postpartum and 5 years later. Methods This prospective cohort study comprised 1,168 women who delivered at a maternity hospital and four maternity homes in Japan between May 2002 and August 2003. Data were collected using structured interviews and transcriptions from medical records. The childbirth experience was assessed using the Childbirth Experience Scale (CBE-Scale) at a few days postpartum and 5 years later. Results We obtained 584 (50.0%) valid responses from women who completed the survey at a few days postpartum and 5 years later. Significant differences were observed in 16 out of 18 items on the CBE-Scale when responses were compared at both time points. Women who answered "yes" to any item on the CBE-Scale at the baseline survey tended to demonstrate a more precise recollection for that item 5 years after childbirth than those who answered "no" for the corresponding item. Conclusions We conclude that women remember their childbirth experience clearly at 5 years after the childbirth. PMID:24996683

FIVE-YEAR RESULTS OF ADJUVANT RADIOTHER

Science.gov (United States)

Osa, Etin-Osa O.; DeWyngaert, Keith; Roses, Daniel; Speyer, James; Guth, Amber; Axelrod, Deborah; Kerimian, Maria Fenton; Goldberg, Judith D.; Formenti, Silvia C.

2015-01-01

Purpose/Objective A technique of prone breast radiotherapy delivered by a regimen of accelerated intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with a concurrent boost to the tumor bed, was developed at our institution. We report the five year results of this approach. Methods and Materials Between 2003–2006, 404 patients with Stage I–II breast cancer were prospectively enrolled into two consecutive protocols, institutional trials 03–30 and 05–181, that used the same regimen of 40.5Gy/15 fractions delivered to the index breast over 3 weeks, with a concomitant daily boost to the tumor bed of 0.5Gy (total dose=48Gy). All patients were treated after segmental mastectomy, had negative margins, and nodal assessment. Patients were set up prone: only if lung or heart volumes were in the field was a supine set-up attempted, and chosen if found to better spare these organs. Results 92% of patients were treated prone, 8% supine. 72% had stage I, 28% stage II invasive breast cancer. In-field lung volume ranged from 0 –228.27cc, mean: 19.65cc. In-field heart volume for left breast cancer patients ranged from 0–21.24cc, mean: 1.59cc. There was no heart in the field for right breast cancer patients. At a median follow-up of five years, the five-year cumulative incidence of isolated ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence was 0.82% (95% CI: 0.65–1.04). The five-year cumulative incidence of regional recurrence was 0.53% (95% CI:0.41–0.69) and the five-year overall cumulative death rate was 1.28% (95% CI: 0.48–3.38). 82% (95% CI: 77–85) of patients judged their final cosmetic result as excellent/good. Conclusions Prone accelerated IMRT with a concomitant boost results in excellent local control, optimal sparing of heart and lung, with good cosmesis. RTOG 10–05, a phase III, multi-institutional, randomized trial is ongoing and is evaluating the equivalence of a similar dose and fractionation approach to standard six weeks radiotherapy with a sequential boost. PMID

Energy in Croatia 2009, Annual Energy Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

With the eighteenth edition of the Review Energy in Croatia, Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship continues the practice of informing domestic and foreign public on relations and trends within the Croatian energy sector. This Review gives, in a recognizable and comprehensible way, data and characteristic values relevant to the Croatian energy sector, providing an overview on energy production and consumption at all levels. There is a detailed analysis of the trends present in the energy sector as well as a number of information on capacities, reserves, prices and energy balances for crude oil, all petroleum products, natural gas, electricity, heat energy, coal and renewable energy sources. The Review also brings the main economic and financial indicators, data on air pollutant emissions and main energy efficiancy indicators. It also gives the ODEX energy efficiancy index, which is determined according to the methodology used in the European Union. This indicator monitors the energy efficiancy trends over a period of time in the sectors of industry, transport, households and in total consumption. Finally, the Review brings the energy balances of the Republic of Croatia for the years 2008 and 2009, made following the EUROSTAT and IEA methodologies. In 2009 total energy demand in Croatia was 1.6 percent lower than the year before. At the same time, gross domestic product fell by 5.8 percent, which as a result gave a 4.4 percent higher level of energy intensity in total energy consumption. When compared to the average energy intensity level in the EU (EU27), the energy intensity in Croatia was 6.8 percent higher. The primary energy production in 2009 was 7.1 percent higher form the previous year. Also, due to favorable hydrological situation the hydropower utilization grew by 31 percent. The energy from renewable sources increased by 29.8 percent and the energy from fuel wood increased by 5.6 percent. The production of crude oil in 2009 decreased by 6

Energy in Croatia 2012, Annual Energy Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-01-01

With the twenty-first edition of the Review Energy in Croatia, Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship continues the practice of informing domestic and foreign public on relations and trends within the Croatian energy sector. This Review gives, in a recognizable and comprehensible way, data and characteristic values relevant to the Croatian energy sector, providing an overview on energy production and consumption at all levels. There is a detailed analysis of the trends present in the energy sector as well as a number of information on capacities, reserves, prices and energy balances for crude oil, all petroleum products, natural gas, electricity, heat energy, coal and renewable energy sources. The Review also brings the main economic and financial indicators, data on air pollutant emissions and main energy efficiancy indicators. It also gives the ODEX energy efficiency index, which is determined according to the methodology used in the European Union. This indicator monitors the energy efficiancy trends over a period of time in the sectors of industry, transport, households and in total consumption. Finally, the Review brings the energy balances of the Republic of Croatia for the years 2011 and 2012, made following the EUROSTAT and IEA methodologies. In 2012 total energy demand in Croatia was 4.7 percent lower than the year before. At the same time, gross domestic product fell by 2 percent, which resulted in a decrease in a total primary energy supply intensity by 2.8 percent. When compared to the average energy intensity level in the EU (EU27), the energy intensity in Croatia was 6.9 percent higher. The primary energy production in 2012 decreased by 5.6 compared to the previous year. Also, due to hydrological situation the hydropower utilization grew by 6.7 percent. The energy from renewable sources increased by 29.8 percent and the energy from fuel wood increased by 5.6 percent. The production of crude oil in 2012 decreased by 9.7 percent and of natural

Energy in Croatia 2011, Annual Energy Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

With the twentieth edition of the Review Energy in Croatia, Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship continues the practice of informing domestic and foreign public on relations and trends within the Croatian energy sector. This Review gives, in a recognizable and comprehensible way, data and characteristic values relevant to the Croatian energy sector, providing an overview on energy production and consumption at all levels. There is a detailed analysis of the trends present in the energy sector as well as a number of information on capacities, reserves, prices and energy balances for crude oil, all petroleum products, natural gas, electricity, heat energy, coal and renewable energy sources. The Review also brings the main economic and financial indicators, data on air pollutant emissions and main energy efficiancy indicators. It also gives the ODEX energy efficiency index, which is determined according to the methodology used in the European Union. This indicator monitors the energy efficiancy trends over a period of time in the sectors of industry, transport, households and in total consumption. Finally, the Review brings the energy balances of the Republic of Croatia for the years 2010 and 2011, made following the EUROSTAT and IEA methodologies. In 2011 total primary energy supply in Croatia was 6.8 percent lower than the year before. At the same time, gross domestic product slightly decreased by 0.01 percent, which resulted in lowering energy intensity of total energy consumption by a 6.8 percent. When compared to the average energy intensity level in the EU (EU27), the energy intensity in Croatia was only 1.2 percent higher. The primary energy production in 2011 decreased by 18 percent from the previous year. Also, due to unfavorable hydrological situation the hydropower utilization was as much as 46.6 percent lower than in 2010. The energy from renewable sources increased by 13.3 percent and the energy from fuel wood, ondustrial waste wood, energy

[The influence of the economic recession on health care labor market in Croatia].

Science.gov (United States)

Bagat, Mario; Drakulić, Velibor

2010-01-01

Trends in the labor market, as a result of global economic recession, are characterized by reduction of manpower activity, decreased number of employed and increased number of unemployed persons. As the result of economic recession more then million workplaces are expected to be lost in the European Union. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of economic recession on labor market in general and healthcare labor market in Croatia. In Q1/2009, the number of employed persons in the European Union declined by -1.2% compared to the same quarter of 2008, while in Croatia the number of employed persons declined by -0.4%. The comparison of quarterly employment rate in Croatia and the European Union in the period from Q2/2008 to Q1/2009 was not significantly different (p = 0.169, df = 6, t = 1.564, Student t test). Average unemployment rate in Q1/2009 in the European Union was 8.1% +/- 0.3 and it was increased by 9.4% compared to Q4/2008, while in Croatia the average unemployment rate in Q1/2009 was 8.4% +/- 0.1 and it was increased by 3.3% compared to Q4/2008. Monthly changes of unemployment rates compared between the European Union and Croatia in the six month period (Q4/2008 and Q1/2009) was significantly different (p = 0.001, df = 10, t = 4.425, Student t test). In Croatian health care system in Q1/2009 the number of employed person increased by 0.7% compared to Q1/2008, while the number of unemployed persons in the same period was reduced by -1.0%. Trends in the labor market in Croatia follow the global trends in the labor market in times of economic recession, although the increase in unemployment in Croatia was slower than in the countries of the European Union. As a result of Croatian healthcare system organization, system of financing, supply and demand on healthcare labor market, healthcare workforce in Croatia was less affected by recession than workforce in Croatia in general.

Five-year workplace wellness intervention in the NHS.

Science.gov (United States)

Blake, Holly; Zhou, Dingyuan; Batt, Mark E

2013-09-01

Poor health and well-being has been observed among NHS staff and has become a key focus in current public health policy. The objective of this study was to deliver and evaluate a five-year employee wellness programme aimed at improving the health and well-being of employees in a large NHS workplace. A theory-driven multi-level ecological workplace wellness intervention was delivered including health campaigns, provision of facilities and health-promotion activities to encourage employees to make healthy lifestyle choices and sustained behaviour changes. An employee questionnaire survey was distributed at baseline (n = 1,452) and at five years (n = 1,134), including measures of physical activity, BMI, diet, self-efficacy, social support, perceived general health and mood, smoking behaviours, self-reported sickness absence, perceived work performance and job satisfaction. Samples were comparable at baseline and follow-up. At five years, significantly more respondents actively travelled (by walking or cycling both to work and for non-work trips) and more were active while at work. Significantly more respondents met current recommendations for physical activity at five years than at baseline. Fewer employers reported 'lack of time' as a barrier to being physically active following the intervention. Significantly lower sickness absence, greater job satisfaction and greater organisational commitment was reported at five years than at baseline. Improvements in health behaviours, reductions in sickness absence and improvements in job satisfaction and organisational commitment were observed following five years of a workplace wellness intervention for NHS employees. These findings suggest that health-promoting programmes should be embedded within NHS infrastructure.

40 CFR 68.168 - Five-year accident history.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 15 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Five-year accident history. 68.168 Section 68.168 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) CHEMICAL ACCIDENT PREVENTION PROVISIONS Risk Management Plan § 68.168 Five-year accident history...

INVESTMENT EFFICIENCY IN NEW HOTEL BUILDINGS IN CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eddy Rot

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abandonment of mass tourism in the late 80-ies of 20th century and attitude of humane tourism oriented to the needs and requirements of individuals, it is characterized by changes in the design and architectural design of hotel facilities. Features and functionality of hotel facilities are affected by trends in tourism demand. Tourism gets new features, which hotel companies must adapt. Individualism, humanism and hedonism are the guidelines that accompany the tourist industry in the 21st century. They determine the new considerations shaping and arranging hotel facilities, and the need for transformation of the hotel buildings designed for mass tourism in facilities for contemporary tourist who is aware of his needs, desires and aspirations. These trends should be monitored and the hotel industry in Croatia. The last decade marked by investments in reconstruction and modernization of existing hotel facilities, but investment in new hotel facilities are still minor. The reason for this is the fact that the hotel industry is low profitable activity, but also in the unfinished privatization, lack of domestic financial capital and the lack of attractiveness of the Croatia to attract foreign capital which would allow meaningful construction of new and rehabilitation of existing hotel facilities in line with trends in the tourism market. This paper critically examines the state of the hotel industry in the Republic of Croatia and its competitiveness in Europe, and it presents the results of research on the effectiveness of building a fictional hotel in Croatia, with a comparative analysis with European hotels.

Review of Investigations on Site Selection for Nuclear Power Plants in Croatia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Malbasa, N [Ekonerg, Zagreb (Croatia)

2008-07-01

A review of site investigation for nuclear facilities in the Republic of Croatia that had been performed from 1964, when investigation started for the first nuclear power plant, to 1994 when the activities were stopped, is presented therein. Brief results of the main investigation were presented including the Tanja site on the Danube upstream of Vukovar. It is the best of all the investigated locations for nuclear power plant in Croatia. The review of results for site selection of low and intermediate level of radioactive waste disposal is also given. The position of nuclear power plants in the strategic documents of the Republic of Croatia was analysed. It is concluded that the status of nuclear facilities in the main strategic documents must be improved because the energy future in Croatia - as almost in all European countries - could hardly be successful without any further development of nuclear energy.(author)

Review of Investigations on Site Selection for Nuclear Power Plants in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malbasa, N.

2008-01-01

A review of site investigation for nuclear facilities in the Republic of Croatia that had been performed from 1964, when investigation started for the first nuclear power plant, to 1994 when the activities were stopped, is presented therein. Brief results of the main investigation were presented including the Tanja site on the Danube upstream of Vukovar. It is the best of all the investigated locations for nuclear power plant in Croatia. The review of results for site selection of low and intermediate level of radioactive waste disposal is also given. The position of nuclear power plants in the strategic documents of the Republic of Croatia was analysed. It is concluded that the status of nuclear facilities in the main strategic documents must be improved because the energy future in Croatia - as almost in all European countries - could hardly be successful without any further development of nuclear energy.(author)

Human Resources – One of the Key Challenges of Tourism Development in the Republic of Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Buneta Anđelka

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Tourist activity in the Republic of Croatia is one of the leading and most promising activities. It is our past, present and future. According to the National Bank, the share of revenues from travel - tourism in overall GDP in the first 9 months of 2015 was 22.2%, an increase of 1.2% compared to the same period in 2014. In the third quarter share of revenues from travel - tourism in total GDP amounted to 41.3%, as compared to the same period in 2014, representing a growth of 1.4%. The conclusion is that tourism is one of the leading economic sectors in the Republic of Croatia. Due to realized 78 million and 569,000 overnight stays (6.8% more than in 2014 and more than 8 billion of foreign exchange inflows, the Republic of Croatia on the overall tourism market has been recognized as an important destination whose development potentials have not yet been exhausted. Relevant institutions and predictions underline the fact that tourism is one of the keys for faster integration of Croatia in the entire world economy and the networked society, from which it can be read that Croatia must view this sector in a new way and allow tourism to undergo complete transformation, in order to cope with future competitive challenges more easily. According to estimates by the World Travel & Tourism Council direct and indirect employment in the tourism sector in 2008 was about 300,000 employees, but that number will have increased by additional 100,000 in the next ten years. The Croatian tourism today employs 35-40% of workers. Thus, the tourism industry is a comprehensive and a very important generator of jobs of different profiles - from catering and hotel industry to entertainment and animation. In the light of progress in the development of tourism, and regardless of specific personnel, Croatia still needs a lot of work on the construction of the existing profile of tourism personnel and management and educate the tourist interest in tourism future. In addition

The Development of Low-Carbon Strategy in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grgasovic, V.

2013-01-01

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol have initiated an awareness of the necessity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and have provided guidelines of the energy in the world, especially within the European Union. EU sets its action within the negotiations on a new global agreement in the field of climate change, for the period after the 2020. Croatia, also, has to follow these guidelines. Therefore, Croatia conducts activities to develop low-carbon development strategy and to establish the legal and institutional framework for the successful implementation of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.(author)

Direct Investments in Croatia in the Form of Personal Companies – Tax Related Issues

OpenAIRE

Luketina, Marina

2017-01-01

The bilateral economic relations between Austria and Croatia are of prime importance to both countries: more than one quarter of foreign investments realised in Croatia stem from Austrian sources. Indeed, Austria is the largest investor in Croatia. Although the Croatian legal framework provides for several investment possibilities, Austrian residents prefer to invest in Croatian capital companies. However, especially from the perspective of Austrian residents, substantial tax benefits may res...

Restoring international competitiveness in Croatia: The role of fiscal and monetary policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ćorić Tomislav

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Croatia has joined the European Union as a country with several substantial structural problems, of which the most important is weak competitiveness. Although competitiveness can be viewed from the ‘institutional’ perspective, which includes World Development Indicators (WDI and Doing Business reports, in this paper the authors focus on the more standard view of competitiveness based on unit labour costs (ULC and real effective exchange rate (REER. As a small, open and highly dollarized/euroised economy that has to coordinate its economic policy with the EU policy framework, Croatia has limited space for increasing international competitiveness using monetary policy measures aimed at (nominal devaluation of the national currency. Therefore economic policy stakeholders should focus on decreasing unit labour costs and real effective exchange rate mainly through the process of internal devaluation, which is based on adequate fiscal policy measures. In this paper the authors analyse the role of monetary and fiscal policy in the deteriorating real effective exchange rate and unit labour costs since 2000, and their current capabilities and restrictions in restoring international competitiveness. The Structural VAR model (SVAR is used to estimate the effects of foreign (banking capital, credit growth, and current public expenditure on REER and ULC. The preliminary hypothesis of the paper is that monetary policy should continue to support bank lending activities and the role of fiscal policy is to achieve an internal devaluation, which will increase the competitiveness of the Croatian economy. Restoring international competitiveness is necessary due to its impact on net exports and consequently the economic recovery of the national economy, which has faced recession conditions for five years in a row. Also, restoring competitiveness is one of the most important preconditions for the success of a small country joining the single European market.

Suicide rates in five-year age-bands after the age of 60 years

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shah, Ajit; Bhat, Ravi; Zarate-Escudero, Sofia

2016-01-01

-79 years) and the oldest old (80+ years) age groups. METHODS: Data on the number of suicides (International Classification of Diseases - ICD-10 codes, X60-84) in each of the eight five-year age-bands between the age-bands 60-64 years and 95-99 years in both gender for as many years as possible from 2000...... were ascertained from three sources: colleagues with access to national data, national statisics office websites and email contact with the national statistics offices. The population size for the corresponding years and age-bands was estimated for each country using data provided by the United Nations......BACKGROUND: There is paucity of studies examining suicide rates in narrow five-year age-bands after the age of 60 years. This study examined suicide rates in eight five-year age-bands between the age of 60 and 99 years because this will allow more precise comparison between the young old (60...

The experience of five years operation of Phenix

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conte, F.; Lacroix, A.

1980-01-01

Two long periods of exceptional operation have satisfied the hopes of the designers and all parameters, power, efficiency, load factor, fuel behaviour, were better than was expected. The experience resulting from the only major incident provided a series of complementary data. Modern technology has need of sanction by experiment. The Phenix type reactor is a tool which is convenient to operate and to maintain. The two aspects of the demonstration, correct operation and ease of maintenance, take a concrete form in the harmlessness of Phenix on men and on the environment. There is no irradiation and few releases. (orig./DG)

Energy Strategy and Regional Planning in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toljan, I.

1997-01-01

The paper describes the relationship between energy strategy and regional planning in Croatia, the targets, environmental issues and preconditions to be met for the establishment of a modern energy sector. (author)

TRIUMF: Five-year plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

The Canadian government recently announced approval of a five-year-plan for TRIUMF, giving the Vancouver Laboratory assured funding until the year 2000. Besides continuation of the multidisciplinary cyclotron, this will allow construction of ISAC-1, a new on-line isotope separator. At the same time, TRIUMF will also be responsible for Canadian ''in-kind'' contributions to international science at CERN's LHC proton-proton collider (see page 1). The federal plan strengthens TRIUMF's role as a national facility, run by a consortium of universities across Canada. In addition, TRIUMF will have even stronger international links. The federal government has allocated a total of $166.6 million to TRIUMF over the next five years. In addition, the provincial British Columbia government, a long-time supporter of TRIUMF, has already agreed to provide approximately $10 million for conventional construction. The nature of the accelerator contributions to the LHC has not been finally decided, although two areas are under discussion - the upgrade of the accelerator chain, and construction of the two 'beam cleaning' insertions. The former would involve provision of various new systems (radiofrequency, magnets, power supplies, kickers, etc) for the Booster, PS and SPS synchrotrons; indeed activity is already underway in some areas, such as model studies for a new 40 MHz system for the PS. The acronym of the new facility, ISAC-1, is short for Isotope Separator & Accelerator. A prototype first stage already exists in TRIUMF. ISAC-1 will use the intense proton beam from the TRIUMF cyclotron to create powerful beams of exotic, short-lived, radioactive nuclei which will be accelerated in a new structure

Energy in Croatia 2004, Annual Energy Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-11-01

Report represents a continuous information source for both national and international public on relations and trends in the Croatian energy system. This edition brings certain changes in the energy topics' outline and broader scope of information compared to the previous editions. However, the representative features of the Croatian energy sector, related to supply and demand of energy at all levels, kept the familiar outlook of presentation.Besides the detailed analysis of energy trends, this edition provides numerous information on capacity, reserves and prices of energy as well as individual energy sources' balances - crude oil and oil derivates, natural gas, electricity, heat, coal and renewable energy sources. In addition, Croatian basic and economic and financial indicators, emission of air pollutants plus basic energy efficiency indicators were presented in order to give better understanding of the Croatian energy sector environment. Finally, there is a special novelty of representing energy balances of the Republic of Croatia made in the compliance with EUROSTAT and IEA methodology for years 2003 and 2004. Total primary energy supply in the Republic of Croatia in 2004 was 4.1 percent higher compared to the previous year. The gross domestic product increased by 3.8 percent over the same period. This means that energy intensity, primary energy supply per unit of gross domestic product, increased by 0.3 percent. Compared to the European Union average Croatian energy intensity was approximately 24 percent higher. Total primary energy production, on the other hand, increased by 11.2 percent due to extremely favourable hydrological conditions. The raise i n hydropower by 48.5 percent improved Croatian primary energy self-supply to 49.6 percent. In the structure of total primary energy supply for 2004, the losses of transmission and distribution of energy were reduced only while the rest of the categories of energy consumption increased. The 3.3 percent increase

Report of the application of the INES in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valcic, I.

1997-01-01

The Republic of Croatia has no nuclear installation, no power reactors, no research reactors, nor any other nuclear fuel circle installations, on its territory. All facilities with installations and/or equipment for application of ionising radiation (irradiators, accelerators, sealed sources etc.) have operated without radiation safety relevant incidents. Also all transport activities have been carried out without any safety relevant incidents. Consequently, no one abnormal event was rated in Croatia using INES in period Oct. 1996 - Oct. 1997, and no INES report was communicated to the INES information system

Proceedings of the Fifth Forum: Energy day in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

Fifth forum is dedicated to energy consumption. After liberation of some parts of Croatia and peaceful reintegration of Podunavlje in the Republic of Croatia, we think about future, economic development and living standard increasing. Main factors in energy consumption are investments, choice and decisions of consumers. Also, there is a problem of environmental protection which is parallel to economic development. There is no simple solution because of different circumstances in every country. However, organized energy system must contain some basic principles, which connect economic laws, national safety, energy efficiency and environmental protection

Medical Informatics in Croatia – a Historical Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Dezelic, Gjuro; Kern, Josipa; Petrovecki, Mladen; Ilakovac, Vesna; Hercigonja-Szekeres, Mira

2014-01-01

A historical survey of medical informatics (MI) in Croatia is presented from the beginnings in the late sixties of the 20th century to the present time. Described are MI projects, applications in clinical medicine and public health, start and development of MI research and education, beginnings of international cooperation, establishment of the Croatian Society for MI and its membership to EFMI and IMIA. The current status of computerization of the Croatian healthcare system is sketched as well as the present graduate and postgraduate study MI curricula. The information contained in the paper shows that MI in Croatia developed and still develops along with its advancement elsewhere. PMID:24648620

National survey of indoor radon levels in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radolic, V.; Vukovic, B.; Stanic, D.; Katic, M.; Faj, Z.; Lukacevic, I.; Planinic, J.; Suveljak, B.; Faj, D.; Lukic, M.

2006-01-01

National survey of indoor radon was performed by a random sampling of thousand (782 realized) dwellings in Croatia. Radon concentrations were measured for one year with LR-115 SSNT detectors and arithmetic and geometric means of 68 and 50 Bq/m 3 were obtained, respectively. The arithmetic means of radon concentrations on 20 counties were from 33 to 198 Bq/m 3 . The percentage of dwellings with radon concentrations above 200 and 400 Bq/m 3 was 5.4% and 1.8%, respectively. The average annual effective dose of the indoor radon was estimated as 2.2 mSv. (author)

Nuclear liability legislation in the Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sladonja, B.

2000-01-01

This paper contains same basic data about the legal norms relating to the third party liability system for nuclear damage that are in force in Croatia. It also describes the provisions of the new Croatian Act on Liability for Nuclear Damage, giving emphasis on those implementing substantial changes compared to the old Act. Finally, it contains some remarks relating to the possible adoption of Vienna Protocol and Convention on Supplementary Compensation of 1997 or Pariz/Brussels conventions as an alternative and at the end about the practice on the insurance of nuclear risks in the last twenty years by the Croatian Pool. (author)

The Gap between the Knowledge and Current Practices--A Case of Tobacco Control Programs in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Civljak, Marta; Tudor Car, Lorainne; Skara, Silvana; Oresković, Stipe

2015-09-01

Despite the availability of numerous evidence-based smoking prevention and cessation programs, many countries are still not implementing these research-proven programs. The primary aim of this paper is to summarize the extent to which evidence-based smoking control programs have been implemented in Croatia over the last two decades. Data from the systematic reviews of the Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group, which are readily available worldwide, were used as criteria to evaluate whether effective, evidence-based programs have been implemented in Croatia. According to our findings, the most effective behavioral and pharmacological smoking cessation interventions have thus far been underutilized in Croatia. In addition, some interventions that have been continuously implemented in Croatia--such as using self-help materials, school-based programs and the celebration of World No Tobacco Day--have only small, short-term beneficial effects according to the Cochrane reviews. However, Croatia is a party to the World health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and therefore has effective national legislation on tobacco control. Croatia should develop and implement programs that integrate the existing high-quality empirical evidence on the effectiveness of various behavioral, pharmacological, and social interventions for smoking prevention and cessation. This programming should become a part of a continuous national strategy, and should be implemented throughout all of Croatia.

EVALUATION OF THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF PENSION FUNDS IN CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dražen Novaković

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to evaluate the financial performance of pension funds in Croatia. Although there are other factors which are important in the pension funds overall performance, this paper focuses on investment accomplishments. The purpose of measuring portfolio performance is to determine whether portfolio managers add value compared to passive investment strategies. The traditional approach to pension funds’ performance evaluation underlines standard measures of financial performance (e.g. ratios such as Sharpe’s, Sortino’s, Treynor’s, etc. which quantify the ability of pension fund managers to deliver an active management risk premium, with respect to benchmarks. In this paper, the previously mentioned traditional measures of risk-adjusted performance are applied to Croatian pension funds. Due to recent changes in pension systems in other Eastern European countries once again emphasis is put on this issue in Croatia. The analysis furthermore includes evaluation of pension funds’ asset allocation. The period of analysis covers twelve years, from the establishment of pension funds in Croatia in 2002 until 2013. The main hypothesis of the paper states that Croatian pension funds underperform with respect to benchmark comparisons, set as return on the combined CROBEX/CROBIS portfolio. Results show that the main hypothesis does not hold. The financial performance of pension funds directly influences their competitiveness, derived from the possibility of measuring their success in active portfolio management. In addition, pension funds are expected to support the national economy. By investing their accumulating assets, they can protect jobs and enhance economic growth. However, they can achieve that only if they are competitive in means of financial performance.

Caring for academic ophthalmology in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandić, Zdravko; Vatavuk, Zoran

2004-06-01

Like any other area of academic medicine in Croatia, academic ophthalmology has always been limited by or has depended on the factors outside the profession itself: during the communist regime, it was mostly political and ideological correctness of academic ophthalmologists, and today during the social and economic transition, it is the lack of finances, planning, and sophisticated technology. The four university eye clinics, which are the pillars of academic ophthalmology in Croatia, provide health care to most difficult cases, educate students, residents, and specialists, and do research. On the other hand, they lack equipment, room, and financial recognition. This ever growing imbalance between requirements imposed on academic ophthalmology today and its possibilities make it less and less attractive, especially in comparison with private practice. The possible solution lies in increasing the independence of ophthalmology from pharmaceutical industry and politics, especially in research and financial aspects.

Possibilities of the natural gas supply in the Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mavrovic, S.; Matic, D.

1996-01-01

Europe and Croatia meet 70% of their total natural gas demand from indigenous production and import other 30% (20% from the Russian Federation and 10% from Algeria). Croatia imports gas only from Russia. Forecasts and analysis of energy sector development point out that natural gas consumption will be doubled till 2010 when it will reach approximately 555-651 bcm. Natural gas consumption is expected to rise significantly in Croatia. Estimations of required import made by INA and PROHES - preliminary results, are similar. It has been expected that future import in 2010 will be between 2 and 3 bcm depending on considered scenario. Due to expectations of rising gas demand, Europe is turning on to new projects aiming to better connections by pipelines and LNG chains. New projects are considering constructions of new Russian transmission lines, additional lines from North Sea, increasing capacity of lines from Algeria, UK interconnection with Continent, and new pipelines and LNG routes from Middle East and Central Asia. Involvement in some the above mentioned projects is of importance for Croatia because it enables additional natural gas quantities and diversification of sources. (author)

Columbine High: Five Years Later

Science.gov (United States)

Hurst, Marianne D.

2004-01-01

A few weeks before the fifth anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings on April 20, 1999, Principal Frank DeAngelis reflects on how his school has changed over the past five years. Much like the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, "Columbine" carries a chilling meaning that resonates across the…

The game damages on agricultural crops in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hrvoje Novosel

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Conflicts between wildlife and humans have been reported from all over the world, but in Croatia the extent and intensity of the conflict is increasing. Agricultural damage by game is a major concern for both agricultural and wildlife agencies at the national level. In this study 4,695 cases of game damage over a 4-year period were analysed. Results indicated that the total amount of economic impact on agriculture from game damage was significant. The distribution of payments shows that a majority of payments have lower economic value with an average amount of single payment being 477.08 €. The annual number of payments was found to have a negative correlation coefficient (-0.469 to the total payment amount for damages. According to the number of payments (68% of the number of payments and the payment amount (60% of total payment amount, the crop most often damaged was maize. Analysis of the data found that there was a negative growth trend of payment frequency and total payment amount for grape vineyards. The correlation between yearly number of payments and yearly production was not calculated for any crop. The high seasonal nature of payments was a determent of seasonal regression using a dummy variable regression (r2=0.93. A comparison of the monthly number of payments and monthly amounts is depicted by a time series using a seasonal line. The impact of wild boar damage on agriculture crops, in total, leads to the conclusion that this game species is a major problem. The results showed a specific subset of game damage in Croatia and, as such, it can be extrapolated to provide insight into the damage caused by wild boar in other countries.

Differentiation of Commercial PDO Wines Produced in Istria (Croatia) According to Variety and Harvest Year Based on HS-SPME-GC/MS Volatile Aroma Compound Profiling.

Science.gov (United States)

Lukić, Igor; Horvat, Ivana

2017-03-01

To differentiate monovarietal wines made from native and introduced varieties in Istria (Croatia), samples of Malvazija istarska, Chardonnay and Muscat yellow from two harvest years (2013 and 2014) were subjected to headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis (HS-SPME-GC/MS) of volatile aroma compounds. Significant effects of variety and harvest year were determined, but their interaction complicated the differentiation. Particular compounds were consistent as markers of variety in both years: nerol for Malvazija, ethyl cinnamate and a tentatively identified isomer of dimethylbenzaldehyde for Chardonnay, and terpenes for Muscat yellow. Wines from 2013 contained higher concentrations of the majority of important volatiles. A 100% correct differentiation of Malvazija istarska and Chardonnay wines according to both variety and harvest year was achieved by stepwise linear discriminant analysis.

Key Royale bridge five year evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-01

This report describes the design, construction, instrumentation, and five-year evaluation of the Key Royale Bridge substructure. The primary focus was the evaluation of the implementation of highly reactive supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) ...

Twenty-five years of transient counting experience in French PWR units

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barthelet, B. [Electricite de France (EDF DPN), 93 - Saint-Denis (France); Savoldelli, D.; Fritz, R. [Electricite de France (EDF DPN), 93 - Noisy le Grand (France)

2001-07-01

For nearly twenty five years, EDF has been checking that the actual operating transients are neither more severe nor more numerous than the design basis transients. This activity of transient cycle counting and bookkeeping has enabled EDF to own a database of more than 800 reactor.years for the PWR units. The current method of transient cycle counting is presented. In the paper, we will point out the main results of transient cycle counting and lessons learned. In general, the frequencies of transients are lower than the design frequencies. In few cases, they are higher, such as the transient frequencies of the RCS lines connected to auxiliary systems often due to operating procedures or particular periodic testing. Few periodic tests were not taken into account in the design basis transient file ; they have been detected thanks to the transient cycle counting. In the last 1980's, we achieved the first updating of the design basis transient file for the PWR 900 MWe series. In the early 1990's, we updated the design basis transient file of the PWR 1300 MWe series. In fact, since design and start-up, the operating conditions have been modified (fuel cycle with stretch-out, modification of the hot leg and cold leg temperatures for the PWR 1300 MWe,...). This was the cause of many unclassified transients. In the new design basis transient file, we have created new transients and increased the frequencies of some of them. This has enabled to consider the updated design basis transient file more representative of actual operating transients. For some years, we have increasingly associated the operators with the transient cycle counting concern. We noticed progress (decreased frequencies of most transients). (authors)

Twenty-five years of transient counting experience in French PWR units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barthelet, B.; Savoldelli, D.; Fritz, R.

2001-01-01

For nearly twenty five years, EDF has been checking that the actual operating transients are neither more severe nor more numerous than the design basis transients. This activity of transient cycle counting and bookkeeping has enabled EDF to own a database of more than 800 reactor.years for the PWR units. The current method of transient cycle counting is presented. In the paper, we will point out the main results of transient cycle counting and lessons learned. In general, the frequencies of transients are lower than the design frequencies. In few cases, they are higher, such as the transient frequencies of the RCS lines connected to auxiliary systems often due to operating procedures or particular periodic testing. Few periodic tests were not taken into account in the design basis transient file ; they have been detected thanks to the transient cycle counting. In the last 1980's, we achieved the first updating of the design basis transient file for the PWR 900 MWe series. In the early 1990's, we updated the design basis transient file of the PWR 1300 MWe series. In fact, since design and start-up, the operating conditions have been modified (fuel cycle with stretch-out, modification of the hot leg and cold leg temperatures for the PWR 1300 MWe,...). This was the cause of many unclassified transients. In the new design basis transient file, we have created new transients and increased the frequencies of some of them. This has enabled to consider the updated design basis transient file more representative of actual operating transients. For some years, we have increasingly associated the operators with the transient cycle counting concern. We noticed progress (decreased frequencies of most transients). (authors)

Auditory processing and phonological awareness skills of five-year-old children with and without musical experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Escalda, Júlia; Lemos, Stela Maris Aguiar; França, Cecília Cavalieri

2011-09-01

To investigate the relations between musical experience, auditory processing and phonological awareness of groups of 5-year-old children with and without musical experience. Participants were 56 5-year-old subjects of both genders, 26 in the Study Group, consisting of children with musical experience, and 30 in the Control Group, consisting of children without musical experience. All participants were assessed with the Simplified Auditory Processing Assessment and Phonological Awareness Test and the data was statistically analyzed. There was a statistically significant difference between the results of the sequential memory test for verbal and non-verbal sounds with four stimuli, phonological awareness tasks of rhyme recognition, phonemic synthesis and phonemic deletion. Analysis of multiple binary logistic regression showed that, with exception of the sequential verbal memory with four syllables, the observed difference in subjects' performance was associated with their musical experience. Musical experience improves auditory and metalinguistic abilities of 5-year-old children.

Launching PPARC's five year strategy programme

CERN Document Server

2003-01-01

"Over one hundred delegates from Parliament, Whitehall and Industry attended a reception on Tuesday night (25 November) to mark the launch the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council's (PPARC) Five Year Plan" (1 page).

Usage of Business Simulation Games in Croatia: Perceived Obstacles

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Jovana Zoroja

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Business simulation games (BSGs enhance learning, since they actively involve students in the educational process through game playing. They began to play important role in business education in many universities in Croatia. However, quantitative information on their usage in higher educational institutions (HEIs in Croatia is still scarce. Goals of the paper are to explore: (1 differences among BSGs users and non-users according to demographic characteristics, (2 differences among BSGs users and non-users according to perceived obstacles of BSGs usage, and (3 impact of both demographic characteristics and perceived obstacles on the decision on usage or not-usage of BSGs. A survey was taken in business and economics departments of HEIs in Croatia. A regression model has been used to test the impact of demographic characteristics of educators and the perceived obstacles to the usage of BSGs in educational practice. Results indicate that BSGs usage is currently at a low level, mainly due to the lack of funds and management support. Academic rank, gender, and attitude toward new technologies also impact BSGs usage.

AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO THE TRADE DYNAMICS IN CROATIA

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Daniel Tomic

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The point of understanding the international finance and trade perspective is closely related to comprehension of the terms of trade (exchange rate – trade balance nexus. How well can a country balance its international trade engagement over international price changes and/or applied exchange rate regime is of great importance, especially for a small, opened, indebted and import dependent country such as Croatia. By focusing on the relationship between the terms of trade, exchange rate, volume of trade, current account and output we are trying to provide some new insights into trade dynamics over a business cycle in Croatia. Furthermore, the analysis is done on aggregate level and evaluates only the market of goods, for it constitutes the larger part of the trade balance. Empirical assessment relies on the lead and lag cross-correlation functions between the variables comprising the period 2000 – 2014. Results suggest the existence of the S-curve pattern leading us to some indicative conclusions regarding the trade dynamics in Croatia.

The Recent Development of Croatia's Population – Regular and Irregular Population Trends

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Ivan Lajić

2004-09-01

Full Text Available The recent development of Croatia’s population is burdened by many phenomena, due to which we can define it as irregular. Aggression against the newly-independent Croatian state, as well as the wars in its neighbourhood, brought about mechanical population movements that to a great degree enter into the category of forced migrations. The war death rate in the early 1990s and the strong refugee and expellee flows caused the strongest depopulation in recent times. Depopulation was present not only in war-effected areas – its further consequences were felt throughout Croatia. The mechanical, rather than the biological component determined this regressive development. The paper identifies the key modalities in migration flows in Croatia, which show that it is at the same time both an emigration and an immigration country. Wars in former Yugoslavia, which were to a high degree characterized by inter-ethnic conflicts, resulted in migration flows of people to their ethnic core areas. Thus, Croatia has received a strong immigration current made up of Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, whereas emigration from Croatia to the latter countries mostly involved rural Serbs. Besides these migration trends, members of the ethnically Croatian (majority population and also other groups from Croatia, have migrated to Western Europe, which was a continuation of traditional migration trends. Among these migrants there is a large contingent which could be denoted as part of the “brain drain”. The census conducted in 2001 applied a different methodology than earlier censuses. The problem of different census methodologies is especially pertinent in a country which has a large number of refugees and economic migrants that cannot be classified into the category of emigrants. Thus the 2001 Census registered that Croatia has 4,437,460 inhabitants, or 7.25% less than in 1991.

The discrepancy in the perception of the public-political speech in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanta, Ivan; Lesinger, Gordana

2014-03-01

Key place in this paper takes the study of political speech in the Republic of Croatia and their impact on voters, or which keywords are in political speeches and public appearances of politicians in Croatia that their voting body wants to hear. Given listed below we will define the research topic in the form of a question - is there a discrepancy in the perception of the public-political speech in Croatia, and which keywords are specific to the two main regions in Croatia and that inhabitant these regions respond. Marcus Tullius Cicero, the most important Roman orator, he used a specific associative mnemonic technique that is called "technique room". He would talk expound on keywords and conceptual terms that he needed for the desired topic and join in these make them, according to the desired order, in a very creative and unique way, the premises of the house or palace, which he knew well. Then, while holding the speech intended to pass through rooms of the house or palace and then put keywords and concepts come to mind, again according to the desired order. Given that this is a specific kind of research political speech that is relatively recent in Croatia, it should be noted that there is still, this kind of political communication is not sufficiently explored. Particularly the emphasis on the impact and use of keywords specific to the Republic of Croatia, in everyday public and political communication. The paper will be analyzed the political, campaign speeches and promises several winning candidates, and now Croatian MEPs, specific keywords related to: economics, culture, science, education and health. The analysis is based on comparison of the survey results on the representation of key words in the speeches of politicians and qualitative analysis of the speeches of politicians on key words during the election campaign.

Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Observations: Beam Maps and Window Functions

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, R. S.; Weiland, J. L.; Odegard, N.; Wollack, E.; Hinshaw, G.; Larson, D.; Bennett, C. L.; Halpern, M.; Page, L.; Dunkley, J.; Gold, B.; Jarosik, N.; Kogut, A.; Limon, M.; Nolta, M. R.; Spergel, D. N.; Tucker, G. S.; Wright, E. L.

2009-02-01

Cosmology and other scientific results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) mission require an accurate knowledge of the beam patterns in flight. While the degree of beam knowledge for the WMAP one-year and three-year results was unprecedented for a CMB experiment, we have significantly improved the beam determination as part of the five-year data release. Physical optics fits are done on both the A and the B sides for the first time. The cutoff scale of the fitted distortions on the primary mirror is reduced by a factor of ~2 from previous analyses. These changes enable an improvement in the hybridization of Jupiter data with beam models, which is optimized with respect to error in the main beam solid angle. An increase in main-beam solid angle of ~1% is found for the V2 and W1-W4 differencing assemblies. Although the five-year results are statistically consistent with previous ones, the errors in the five-year beam transfer functions are reduced by a factor of ~2 as compared to the three-year analysis. We present radiometry of the planet Jupiter as a test of the beam consistency and as a calibration standard; for an individual differencing assembly, errors in the measured disk temperature are ~0.5%. WMAP is the result of a partnership between Princeton University and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Scientific guidance is provided by the WMAP Science Team.

Croatia - Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes : Accounting and Auditing

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2007-01-01

This report provides an updated assessment of accounting, financial reporting, and auditing requirements and practices within the enterprise and financial sectors in Croatia. It uses International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), International Standards on Auditing (ISA), and the relevant portions of European Union (EU) law (also known as the acquis communautaire). Croatia has made co...

Molecular Survey of Zoonotic Agents in Rodents and Other Small Mammals in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Tadin, Ante; Tokarz, Rafal; Markotić, Alemka; Margaletić, Josip; Turk, Nenad; Habuš, Josipa; Svoboda, Petra; Vucelja, Marko; Desai, Aaloki; Jain, Komal; Lipkin, W Ian

2016-02-01

Croatia is a focus for many rodent-borne zoonosis. Here, we report a survey of 242 rodents and small mammals, including 43 Myodes glareolus, 131 Apodemus flavicollis, 53 Apodemus agrarius, three Apodemus sylvaticus, six Sorex araneus, four Microtus arvalis, one Microtus agrestis, and one Muscardinus avellanarius, collected at eight sites in Croatia over an 8-year period. Multiplex MassTag polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for detection of Borrelia, Rickettsia, Bartonella, Babesia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Francisella tularensis, and Coxiella burnetii. Individual PCR assays were used for detection of Leptospira, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, orthopoxviruses, flaviviruses, hantaviruses, and Toxoplasma gondii. Of the rodents, 52 (21.5%) were infected with Leptospira, 9 (3.7%) with Borrelia miyamotoi, 5 (2%) with Borrelia afzelii, 29 (12.0%) with Bartonella, 8 (3.3%) with Babesia microti, 2 (0.8%) with Ehrlichia, 4 (1.7%) with Anaplasma, 2 (0.8%) with F. tularensis, 43 (17.8%) with hantaviruses, and 1 (0.4%) with an orthopoxvirus. Other agents were not detected. Multiple infections were found in 32 rodents (13.2%): dual infections in 26 rodents (10.7%), triple infections in four rodents (2.9%), and quadruple infections in two rodents (0.8%). Our findings indicate that rodents in Croatia harbor a wide range of bacteria and viruses that are pathogenic to humans. © The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Identification of Coxiella burnetii genotypes in Croatia using multi-locus VNTR analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Račić, Ivana; Spičić, Silvio; Galov, Ana; Duvnjak, Sanja; Zdelar-Tuk, Maja; Vujnović, Anja; Habrun, Boris; Cvetnić, Zeljko

2014-10-10

Although Q fever affects humans and animals in Croatia, we are unaware of genotyping studies of Croatian strains of the causative pathogen Coxiella burnetii, which would greatly assist monitoring and control efforts. Here 3261 human and animal samples were screened for C. burnetii DNA by conventional PCR, and 335 (10.3%) were positive. Of these positive samples, 82 were genotyped at 17 loci using the relatively new method of multi-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA). We identified 13 C. burnetii genotypes not previously reported anywhere in the world. Two of these 13 genotypes are typical of the continental part of Croatia and share more similarity with genotypes outside Croatia than with genotypes within the country. The remaining 11 novel genotypes are typical of the coastal part of Croatia and show more similarity to one another than to genotypes outside the country. Our findings shed new light on the phylogeny of C. burnetii strains and may help establish MLVA as a standard technique for Coxiella genotyping. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Five years of operating the TRIGA Mainz reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benedict, Georg

1970-01-01

Considerable obstacles had to be surmounted before TRIGA MAINZ, first TRIGA reactor built in Germany, reached initial criticality in 1965. Subsequent five years' operation did not raise any major problems. The facility has proven quite reliable and particularly well suited for the purposes of the nuclear chemistry research program pursued at Mainz University. Extensive use is made of the pulse mode of operation. As a result, fuel elements are obviously somewhat overstressed, even though most pulses performed are of the 1.50 dollar size. Maximum licensed steady state power of 100 kW till now has met the requirements of most experiments. However, efforts are in progress to improve irradiation conditions by increasing the reactor power to 300 kW. (author)

Radon in houses and soil of Croatia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Radolic, V.; Vukovic, B.; Stanic, D.; Miklavcic, I.; Planinic, J. [Osijek Univ., Dept. of Physics (Croatia)

2006-07-01

Long-term indoor radon measurements in thousand Croatian homes, randomly selected, were performed by the LR-115 track etch detectors during a year 2003/2004. The obtained values of arithmetic means of radon concentrations in 20 Croatian counties were in range from 33 to 198 Bq/m{sup 3}, while the arithmetic and geometric means for Croatia were 68 and 50 Bq/m{sup 3}, respectively. Indoor radon concentrations follow log-normal distribution and the percentage of dwellings with concentrations above 400 Bq/m{sup 3} was 1.8 %. Radon concentrations in soil gas, at depth of 0.8 m, were measured by 'Alphaguard' measuring system. Association between levels of indoor and soil radon was investigated. (authors)

Connections between Central Asia and Mediaeval Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emil Heršak

1999-06-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses the development of Croat visions of self-origin, especially in relation to the Central Asian or Central Eurasian world. Located on the southern rim of the Pannonia plain, which constitutes a type of continuity of the great Eurasian steppe, the area of Croatia has many times in the past been exposed to diverse incursions of nomadic peoples from the East. True, the oldest expansions from the East in the context of initial Indo-Europeanisation (i.e. effects on the aeneolithic Vučedol culture, etc. cannot yet be included in such a scheme. The “Scythian-Cimmerian phenomenon” in the early Iron Age marks the first appearance of this model in regard to the Croatian area. Towards the end of historical Antiquity, Yazygs and other Sarmatians arrived from the East, and later the movement of the Huns created the stereotype through which contemporaries envisioned the following incursions of Bulgars and Avars, closed connected to the Slavic migrations, the arrival of the Hungarians and later the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Although essentially different, the subsequent Ottoman Turk expansion – which was to have significant ramifications for Croatia – also constituted an aspect of the total picture of relations with Asia. At the beginning of the Ottoman invasion, the old phrase dating from the Mediaeval Crusades, antemurale Christianitatis, was applied to Croatia. This had double significance. On the one hand it confirmed ties with the Western Christendom, but on the other hand the very term antemurale (“forewall, bulwark” implies an external position, hence a certain conceptual shift of Croatia toward the Orient. In the next part of the paper, the authors examine various legends pertaining to Croat origins. The oldest were registered by the Byzantine emperor Constantine VI Porphyrogenitus. This included the account of the invitation made by the emperor Heraclius to the Croats and the story of the arrival of the Croats under the

FACTORING PERSPECTIVE: CROATIA VS EUROPEAN UNION

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Zoran Ivanovic

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This paper points out the problems of liquidity, disposal and obtaining funds, inability to collect receivables, delayed payments in times of economic and financial instability and dynamic business upheavals and uncertainty. As a contribution to resolve these issues new alternative methods of financing for business are imposing, one of them is factoring. Although most countries don’t have adequate legal framework, factoring has emerged as the dominant form of financing, whose current status and development points to the prospects of development in the future. In terms of measures and actions which are taken to combat these issues, as well as legislation, many efforts are made at international level in European Union and in Croatia. Overview and description of the factoring development, and indications for further development are presented in relation to the world, the European Union and the Republic of Croatia. This paper also describes factoring comparison among European countries.

Monitoring of nitrates in drinking water from agricultural and residential areas of Podravina and Prigorje (Croatia).

Science.gov (United States)

Nemčić-Jurec, Jasna; Konjačić, Miljenko; Jazbec, Anamarija

2013-11-01

Nitrates are the most common chemical pollutant of groundwater in agricultural and suburban areas. Croatia must comply with the Nitrate Directive (91/676/EEC) whose aim is to reduce water pollution by nitrates originating from agriculture and to prevent further pollution. Podravina and Prigorje are the areas with a relatively high degree of agricultural activity. Therefore, the aim of this study was, by monitoring nitrates, to determine the distribution of nitrates in two different areas, Podravina and Prigorje (Croatia), to determine sources of contamination as well as annual and seasonal trends. The nitrate concentrations were measured in 30 wells (N = 382 samples) in Prigorje and in 19 wells (N = 174 samples) in Podravina from 2002 to 2007. In Podravina, the nitrate content was 24.9 mg/l and 6% of the samples were above the maximum available value (MAV), and in Prigorje the content was 53.9 mg/l and 38% of the samples above MAV. The wells were classified as correct, occasionally incorrect and incorrect. In the group of occasionally incorrect and incorrect wells, the point sources were within 10 m of the well. There is no statistically significant difference over the years or seasons within the year, but the interaction between locations and years was significant. Nitrate concentrations' trend was not significant during the monitoring. These results are a prerequisite for the adjustment of Croatian standards to those of the EU and will contribute to the implementation of the Nitrate Directive and the Directives on Environmental Protection in Croatia and the EU.

Geographical Basis for Development of Organic Olive Grow in Croatia

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Anica Čuka

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Conventional agriculture is among the biggest polluters of the environment. Overuse of synthetic pesticides, herbicides and mineral fertilisers have caused soil exhaustion, erosion, unbalance in the ecosystem, and their harmful effect on human health has been proven. This is why the author tried to point to the importance of development of organic agriculture, and olive growing as a traditional agricultural sector in coastal Croatia.The main intention is to show the basic geographical aspects of coastal Croatia and to explain the ways it can influence the development of organic olive farming. It is specially emphasized that organically produced food must be incorporated in Croatian tourist offer. It will stimulate a bigger interest for Croatia as an attractive tourist destination in the world tourist market and will simplify the sale of organically produced food. Development of organic olive farming will also contribute to the revitalisation of small villages where a strong presence of negative processes, such as deagrarisation, deruralisation and demographic regression is evident.

Fertility and the changing female educational attainment in Croatia

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Čipin Ivan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the aggregate relationship between cohort fertility and female educational attainment in Croatia. Numerous demographic studies have examined the link between fertility and the level of education. However, newer research indicates that the field of education might also play a role when trying to explain fertility behavior. We contribute to existing literature on macro-level factors related to reproductive outcomes by considering both the level and field of education as possible sources of cohort fertility differentials. The main goal of the present study is to assess the effect of structural changes in educational attainment on cohort fertility decline by means of demographic decomposition techniques. Our analysis is based on detailed 2011 Census data, which provide information on the number of livebirths by mother’s year of birth, birth order, marital status and educational attainment (i.e. the level and field of education. The results of our decomposition analyses reveal the dominance of the structural effect in explaining the overall completed fertility decline in Croatia. We assumed that the changing distribution of women by field of education at least partially accounts for the observed patterns in completed fertility but found no strong evidence in support of the outlined hypothesis.

INFLUENCE OF EUROPEAN CORN BORER (Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner ON CORN HYBRIDS IN NORTH-WEST AND EASTERN CROATIA

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Zvjezdana Augustinović

2005-12-01

Full Text Available European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hubner is one of the major corn pest in the world and in Croatia. Former investigations of corn borer in Croatia covered mostly its Eastern region. In trials conducted in 1998 and 1999 the research was extended to the North Western part of Croatia too. Macro trials were carried out with corn hybrids of FAO groups 200-600 at three localities: Križevci, Agricultural institute Osijek and at «Belje» PIK Karanac. In 1998 the intensity of the corn borer attack at the locality of «Belje» PIK Karanac was about 37.92% and in Agricultural institute Osijek 80.83%. In 1999 it varied between 37.08% at the locality of Agricultural Institute Osijek and 71.20% at the locality in Križevci. The estimated number of holes per plant in all three localities in both years was higher than the number of caterpillars. Length of damage per plant was between 0.38 and 18.80 cm. The data showed significant differences in the intensity of damaging effects on different localities while no significant differences concerning various hybrids were found. The statistical data concerning yield in both years showed significant differences among hybrids, localities and their interactions.

MARICULTURE IN CROATIA, HISTORY AND PERSPECTIVES

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Boško Skaramuca

1997-04-01

Full Text Available Croatia is the country where the sea was used as a food source about a thousand years ago. The tradition of some forms of collection and culture of marine organisms is very long along the Adriatic coast. The farming of marine organisms has a long tradition on the eastern Adriatic coast dating back to the 19th century. L o r i n i (1903 mentioned a figure of 116 such fish ponds on the eastern Adriatic coast. Long tradition of shellfish and fish breeding and particularly a growing fund knowledge recently provided a mariculture development at a growing pace. The eastern Adriatic coast with a number of bays, coves and channels protected from the wind and waves by chains of islands provide marvelous conditions for intensive farming on floating platforms

Incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus in 0 to 14-yr-old children in Croatia--2004 to 2012 study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rojnic Putarek, Natasa; Ille, Jasenka; Spehar Uroic, Anita; Skrabic, Veselin; Stipancic, Gordana; Krnic, Nevena; Radica, Ana; Marjanac, Igor; Severinski, Srecko; Svigir, Alen; Bogdanic, Ana; Dumic, Miroslav

2015-09-01

The incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) among children and adolescents increased during the last 50 yr. The T1DM incidence in Croatia was 8.87/100.000/yr over 1995-2003, with an annual increase of 9%, which placed Croatia among countries with moderate risk for T1DM. To investigate incidence rates and trends of T1DM from 2004 to 2012 in 0 to 14-yr-old Croatian children, and to compare the results with previous studies in Croatia and other European countries. T1DM crude incidence rates are estimated for the entire group and three subgroups: 0-4, 5-9, and 10-14 yr. Standardized incidence is calculated using the method of direct standardization according to World Health Organization (WHO) standard world population. The incidence rates by gender, age groups, seasonality, and calendar year, and their interactions were analyzed using Poisson regression model. A total of 1066 cases were ascertained over 2004-2012. The standardized incidence was 17.23/100.000/yr (95% CI: 16.19-18.26), with no significant differences in incidence rates or trends between boys and girls. Statistically significant annual increase of 5.87% (p Croatia, thus placing Croatia among countries with high risk for T1DM. The annual increment of 5.87% is considerably lower than 9.0% reported earlier, but still higher than the European average (3.9%). The increase in incidence ceased in youngest children. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Modelling local government unit credit risk in the Republic of Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra Posedel

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to determine possible indicators that affect local unit credit risk and investigate their effect on default (credit risk of local government units in Croatia. No system for the estimation of local unit credit risk has been established in Croatia so far causing many practical problems in local unit borrowing. Because of the specific nature of the operations of local government units and legislation that does not allow local government units to go into bankruptcy, conventional methods for estimating credit risk are not applicable, and the set of standard potential determinants of credit risk has to be expanded with new indicators. Thus in the paper, in addition to the usual determinants of credit risk, the hypothesis of the influence of political factors on local unit credit risk in Croatia is also tested out, with the use of a Tobit model. Results of econometric analysis show that credit risk of local government units in Croatia is affected by the political structure of local government, the proportion of income tax and surtax in operating revenue, the ratio of net operating balance, net financial liabilities and direct debt to operating revenue, as well as the ratio of debt repayment and cash, and direct debt and operating revenue.

Annex A1: cornerstone of the five-yearly review

CERN Multimedia

Staff Association

2016-01-01

As a reminder; the purpose of the five-yearly review is to review the financial and social conditions of all CERN personnel whether employed (MPE) or associated (MPA)! In December 2015, the CERN Council approved the package proposed by the Management. Early this year, and as final act of the 2015 five-yearly review, the CERN Council may decide, if necessary and appropriate, to review the procedures defined in Annex A1 and applicable to future five-yearly reviews. At the meeting of TREF (TRipartite Employment Forum)  in early March 2016 discussions will take place between all stakeholders (representatives of Member States, Management and the Staff Association) and Council will take a decision in June 2016, on the basis of the Management's recommendations. What does Annex A1 say and where can I find it? Annex A1 (Article S V 1.02) is a part of the Staff Rules and Regulations. This annex defines: The five-yearly review of the financial and social conditions of the staff, fellows and MPA; The a...

Differentiation of Commercial PDO Wines Produced in Istria (Croatia According to Variety and Harvest Year Based on HS-SPME-GC/MS Volatile Aroma Compound Profiling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Igor Lukić

2017-01-01

Full Text Available To differentiate monovarietal wines made from native and introduced varieties in Istria (Croatia, samples of Malvazija istarska, Chardonnay and Muscat yellow from two harvest years (2013 and 2014 were subjected to headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis (HS-SPME-GC/MS of volatile aroma compounds. Significant effects of variety and harvest year were determined, but their interaction complicated the differentiation. Particular compounds were consistent as markers of variety in both years: nerol for Malvazija, ethyl cinnamate and a tentatively identified isomer of dimethylbenzaldehyde for Chardonnay, and terpenes for Muscat yellow. Wines from 2013 contained higher concentrations of the majority of important volatiles. A 100 % correct differentiation of Malvazija istarska and Chardonnay wines according to both variety and harvest year was achieved by stepwise linear discriminant analysis.

Suicide rates in five-year age-bands after the age of 60 years: the international landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Shah, Ajit; Bhat, Ravi; Zarate-Escudero, Sofia; DeLeo, Diego; Erlangsen, Annette

2016-01-01

There is paucity of studies examining suicide rates in narrow five-year age-bands after the age of 60 years. This study examined suicide rates in eight five-year age-bands between the age of 60 and 99 years because this will allow more precise comparison between the young old (60-79 years) and the oldest old (80+ years) age groups. Data on the number of suicides (International Classification of Diseases - ICD-10 codes, X60-84) in each of the eight five-year age-bands between the age-bands 60-64 years and 95-99 years in both gender for as many years as possible from 2000 were ascertained from three sources: colleagues with access to national data, national statisics office websites and email contact with the national statistics offices. The population size for the corresponding years and age-bands was estimated for each country using data provided by the United Nations website. In men, suicide rates continued to increase for each of the seven five-year age-bands from 60-64 years to 90-94 years age-band, and then declined slightly for the 95-99 year age-band. In women, suicide rates continued to increase for each of the six five-year age-bands from 60-64 years to 85-89 years age-bands, and then declined slightly for the 90-94 years and 95-99 years age-bands. The overall global suicide rates for each of the eight five-year age-bands are sufficiently large for them to constitute a public health concern. This is especially important given the ongoing rise in the elderly population size and the paucity of data on risk and protective factors for suicide in the five-year age-bands after the age of 60 years.

Nuclear Energy - a Part of a Solution to Generate Electric Power in Croatia?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mikulicic, V.; Simic, Z.

1998-01-01

The growth in Croatian energy, particularly electricity, demand together with growing environmental considerations is such that Croatia needs to have flexibility to respond, by having the option of expanding the nuclear sector. This paper deals with nuclear energy as an option for sustainable Croatian economic development, and with the nuclear power controversy. The conclusion is that there is a necessity for extended use of nuclear energy in Croatia. Most certainly the nuclear technology can provide the energy necessary to sustain progress and, as a country without coal, Croatia should favour nuclear power utilisation as the lowest cost option for base-load electricity generation. (author)

[Chest Injury and its Surgical Treatment in Polytrauma Patients. Five-Year Experience].

Science.gov (United States)

Vodička, J; Doležal, J; Vejvodová, Š; Šafránek, J; Špidlen, V; Třeška, V

2016-01-01

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Thoracic trauma, one of the most frequent injuries in patients with multiple traumata, is found in 50 to 80% of these patients and it is crucial for the patient's prognosis. It accounts for 25% of all death from polytraumatic injuries. The aim of this retrospective study was an analysis of the occurrence of chest injuries in polytrauma patients and their surgical treatment in the Trauma Centre or Department of Surgery of the University Hospital Pilsen in a five-year period. MATERIAL AND METHODS Patients with injuries meeting the definition of polytrauma and an Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥16 were included. The demographic characteristics, mechanism of multiple trauma, ISS value and chest injury were recorded in each patient. The number of injured patients in each year of the study was noted. In the patients with chest injury, the type of injury and method of treatment were assessed. The therapy was further analysed including its timing. The number of deaths due to polytrauma involving chest injury, the cause of death and its time in relation to the patient's admission to the Trauma Centre were evaluated. RESULTS In the period 2010-14, 513 polytrauma patients were treated; of them 371 (72.3%) were men with an average age of 40.5 years. The most frequent cause of injury was a traffic accident (74%). The average ISS of the whole group was 35 points. Chest injury was diagnosed in 469 patients (91.4%) of whom only five (1.1%) had penetrating injury. Pulmonary contusion was most frequent (314 patients; 67%). A total of 212 patients with chest injury underwent surgery (45.2%); urgent surgery was performed in 143 (67.5%), acute surgery in 49 (23.1%) and delayed surgery in 63 (29.7%) patients. Chest drainage was the major surgical procedure used in the whole group. Of 61 patients who died, 52 had chest injury. In this subgroup the most frequent cause of death was decompensated traumatic shock (26 patients; 50%). In the whole group, 32 polytrauma

Cochrane and its prospects in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Relying on Cochrane Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmić-Kaknjo, Mersiha; Puljak, Livia; Markotić, Filipa; Fidahić, Mahir; Muhamedagić, Lejla; Zakarija-Grković, Irena

2015-01-01

In this article we describe Cochrane and its products: Cochrane systematic reviews (CSRs) and other Cochrane evidence. Cochrane is a unique, international, non-profit organisation that offers health care providers, health care consumers and other decision makers unbiased and highly reliable information on health, which is pivotal for conscientious and responsible decision making in overall healthcare. Cochrane offers the highest ranked evidence in Evidence Based Medicine (EBM)--systematic reviews. Currently, CSRs are freely available in BH, and therefore, they ought to be widely used, and understood. We will present the new Cochrane Strategy to 2020, which was the main topic of the 6th Croatian Cochrane Symposium (CroCoS), as well as explore prospects for spreading Cochrane activities to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), through collaboration with Cochrane Croatia. BH has no officially organized Cochrane activity, as yet. We hope that this article will raise awareness about Cochrane in BH, help promote its activities, and deepen the existing collaboration with Cochrane Croatia. There are already some changes being introduced concerning Cochrane--at least, in one half, the Federation of BH (FBH). Two documents symbolising official recognition of policy changes towards Cochrane have recently been published in the Official Gazette of FBH. Since founding a BH Cochrane Branch would be costly and difficult to achieve in a complicated environment, such as the one we have, BH could use the good will, experience, knowledge, and translated educational, training and web materials of Cochrane Croatia, particularly given the language similarities, to promote evidence based medicine in BH. Copyright © 2015 by Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

75 FR 34959 - Five-Year Review of Oil Pipeline Pricing Index

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-21

...] Five-Year Review of Oil Pipeline Pricing Index June 15, 2010. AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory... comments on its five-year review of the oil pipeline pricing index established in Revisions to Oil Pipeline...-year review of the oil pricing index, the Commission adopted an index of PPI+1.3 for the five-year...

Budget Impact Analysis of Biosimilar Trastuzumab for the Treatment of Breast Cancer in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cesarec, August; Likić, Robert

2017-04-01

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and has considerable impact on healthcare budgets and patients' quality of life. Trastuzumab (Herceptin ® ) is a monoclonal antibody directed against the human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER2) for the treatment of breast cancer. Several trastuzumab biosimilars are currently in development. In 2015, trastuzumab was the drug with the highest financial consumption among all drugs in Croatia. This model estimates the 1-year budget impact of the introduction of biosimilar trastuzumab in Croatia. A budget impact model, based on approvals for trastuzumab treatment in 2015, was developed for the introduction of biosimilars. Two biosimilar scenarios were developed: biosimilar scenario 1, based on all approvals in 2015, and biosimilar scenario 2, based on approvals after February 2015 and the reimbursement of the subcutaneous formulation of trastuzumab in Croatia. Only trastuzumab-naïve patients and drug-acquisition costs were used in the model. Uptake of biosimilar was assumed at 50 %. Scenarios were calculated with price discounts of 15, 25 and 35 %. The robustness of the model was tested by extensive sensitivity analyses. The projected drug cost savings from the introduction of biosimilar trastuzumab range from €0.26 million (scenario 2, 15 % price discount) to €0.69 million (scenario 1, 35 % price discount). If budget savings were reinvested to treat additional patients with trastuzumab, 14 (scenario 2, 15 % price discount) to 47 (scenario 1, 35 % price discount) additional patients could be treated. Sensitivity analyses showed that the incidence of breast cancer had the highest impact on the model, with a 10 % decrease in incidence leading to an 11.3 % decrease in projected savings. The introduction of biosimilar trastuzumab could lead to significant drug cost savings in Croatia.

78 FR 26616 - Draft NOAA Five Year Research and Development Plan

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-07

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Draft NOAA Five Year Research and Development Plan AGENCY: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce (DOC). ACTION: Draft NOAA Five Year Research and Development Plan for Public Review. SUMMARY: NOAA's draft Five Year Research and Development...

A study of genetic variability of human parainfluenza virus type 1 in Croatia, 2011-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Košutić-Gulija, Tanja; Slovic, Anamarija; Ljubin-Sternak, Sunčanica; Mlinarić-Galinović, Gordana; Forčić, Dubravko

2016-08-01

Molecular epidemiology of human parainfluenza viruses type 1 (HPIV1) was investigated. Samples were collected from patients hospitalized in Croatia during the three consecutive epidemic seasons (2011-2014). Results indicated co-circulation of two major genetic clusters of HPIV1. Samples from the current study refer to clades II and III in a phylogenetic tree of haemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) gene. Additional phylogenetic trees of fusion (F) and phosphoprotein (P) genes confirmed the topology. Analysis of nucleotide diversity of entire P, F and HN genes demonstrated similar values: 0.0255, 0.0236 and 0.0237, respectively. However, amino acid diversity showed F protein to be the most conserved, while P protein was the most tolerant to mutations. Potential N- and O-glycosylation sites suggested that HPIV1 HN protein is abundantly glycosylated, and a specific N-glycosylation pattern could distinguish between clades II and III. Analysis of potential O-glycosylation sites in F protein indicated that samples from this study have two potential O-glycosylation sites, while publicly available sequences have five potential sites. This study provides data on the molecular characterization and epidemic pattern of HPIV1 in Croatia.

THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF GASTRONOMIC TOURISM OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

OpenAIRE

Ivica Batinić

2017-01-01

Gastronomic travel is all the more popular all over the world, and gastronomic tourism has become a selective form of tourism aimed at creating a top tourist experience. Republic of Croatia is proud of its rich gastronomy in such a small area of outstanding cultural specificity and diversity, and with an interesting gastronomic offer tourists can be provided with completely different and new experiences. With a rich, attractive and autochthonous gastronomic offer th...

Towards a Spatial Data Infrastructure in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlado Cetl

2003-09-01

Full Text Available The term Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI is not new and has already been present in the world for quite a long time. President Clinton's Executive Order 12906 from April 1994 played a crucial role and was an initiative in establishing National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI. This Order induced briskly the building of NSDI and also of all additional counterparts in the USA and around the whole world. Besides NSDI, various other initiatives at regional (EUROGI, PCGIAP, … and global level (GSDI were also launched.In this paper, an overview of different initiatives and efforts in establishing SDI in Croatia will be presented. State bodies such as the Government and State Geodetic Administration have the main role in it in collaboration with public and commercial sector and also with academic community. As the main factor in creating a future SDI, State Geodetic Administration has launched several initiatives the goal of which is the installation of new technologies, equipment and procedures in map production and the establishment of digital topographic and cadastre databases. The arrangement and modernization of spatial records and the establishment of NSDI make the key factors for sustainable physical planning and land development at local and national level.In the next few years Croatia must solve numerous duties to arrange spatial records. These duties must be solved very conscientiously and in a reasonable period of time. It is very important for Croatian prosperity and for the fulfilment of the conditions set in the process of entering European and international integrations.

Solar wind power electric plant on Vis (Croatia)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

A project of a solar photovoltaic electric power plant presented by the Republic of Croatia at the meeting of the E.P.I.A. Mission for photovoltaic technology of the Mediterranean countries, aroused a great interest of the representatives of the invited countries. However, the interest within Croatia in the project has disappeared although E.P.I.A. offered a financing of two thirds of costs. There are attempts to construct 1800 kw wind-driven generators at the same location not taking into consideration a possibility of building a hybrid solar-wind-power electric plant. The chance that the solar part is completely of domestic origin is not accepted but the preference is given to the building of imported wind-driven generators. (orig.)

Urologic daycase surgery: A five year experience | Ikuerowo ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Expectedly, daycase surgery (DCS) is today witnessing a boom in developing countries as a reasonable option in the face of global economic recession, although with limited scope. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the urologic day surgery experience at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, ...

Developing Spatial Data Infrastructure in Croatia – Incorporating National and Regional Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Željko Bačić

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Although still not a member State of the European Union, Croatia has recognized in the spatial data infrastructure a concept that can significantly incite the modernization and effectiveness of the State administration, and create preconditions for the accelerated economic growth. Given this fact, Croatia has defined, after preparations which lasted several years, the legal framework for the national spatial data infrastructure establishment by adopting the Law on State Survey and Real Property Cadastre in 2007. During the adoption of this Law, great attention was paid to it being in line with the EU INSPIRE Directive (European Union, 2007 that was being adopted at the time, so the adopted provisions were fully compatible with the INSPIRE provisions. Regarding the model that Croatia has chosen in the establishment of its National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI, the role of the State Geodetic Administration (SGA, the Croatian National Mapping and Cadastre Agency (NMCA, is significant. The SGA acts as a coordination body for the NSDI establishment, giving technical support to the NSDI bodies. One of the obligations is the establishment of a metadata catalogue through the national geoportal. Significant activities have been undertaken in the field of raising the awareness. The most important studies describing the manner of the NSDI establishment and current national as well as European situation have been translated into Croatian language and distributed to more than 1,000 NSDI stakeholders. Several workshops have been organised in order to transfer the best practices from the countries that have achieved big progress in this field. In parallel with the national activities, Croatia, or rather the SGA, has recognized that the spatial data infrastructure (SDI development cannot be based on isolated national activities connected exclusively to the INSPIRE Directive but that the Croatian spatial data infrastructure development activities must be

Five-Yearly Review 2010 : Confirmation that our salaries are going downhill

CERN Multimedia

Staff Association

2010-01-01

A general review of our financial and social conditions takes place every five years: “the five-yearly review”, whose principles and procedures are described in Annex A1 of the Staff Rules and Regulations. The purpose of the five-yearly review is to ensure that the financial and social conditions offered by the Organization allow it to recruit and retain from all its Member States staff members of the highest competence and integrity required for the execution of its mission. The five-yearly review must include basic remuneration (the basic salaries of staff members, the stipends of fellows, and the subsistence allowances of associated members of the personnel) and may include any other financial or social conditions. Start of the 2010 five-yearly review and data collection As we wrote in Echo no. 80, CERN Council approved the document CERN/2862 for the 2010 five-yearly review (hereinafter 2010 5YR) at its meeting on 19th June 2009. This was the Management’s proposal which...

Blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae) in Croatia: species richness, distribution and relationship to surrounding countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Ivković, Marija; Kúdela, Matuš; Kúdelová, Tatiana

2016-05-05

All records of blackflies (Simuliidae) from the territory of Croatia are summarized, including previously unpublished data. The blackfly fauna of Croatia consists of 28 species. Simulium (Nevermannia) angustitarse (Lundström), Simulium (Nevermannia) cryophilum (Rubtsov) complex, Simulium (Nevermannia) lundstromi (Enderlein), Simulium (Nevermannia) vernum Macquart complex, Simulium (Simulium) argyreatum Meigen, Simulium (Simulium) bezzii (Corti) complex, Simulium paraequinum Puri and Simulium pseudequinum Séguy are reported for the first time from Croatia. Information related to the ecoregions, in which species were found and specific species traits are given. Genus Prosimulium Roubaud is represented by one species only. Genus Simulium Latreille is represented by 27 species in six subgenera, with subgenus Simulium Latreille s. str. being most species rich (13 species) and subgenera Boophthora Enderlein and  Trichodagmia Enderlein represented each by only one species. Compared to the neighboring countries, the Croatian species assemblage is most similar to the fauna of Slovenia and least similar to that of Italy. The relatively low number of species, presence of several species complexes and unclear identity of other species show that further research of blackflies in Croatia is needed.

Comparison of Training Qualifications Programs, for Operating Boats and Yachts, which are not Covered by STCW Convention in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darijo Mišković

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Research in this paper was conducted under the EU project TRECVET Core Curriculum for Skippers of Small Commercial Vessels (in short TCC-SCV where a Faculty of Maritime Studies Rijeka was a project partner. The goal of the project was to analyze seven professional SCV skipper qualifications from UK, France, Spain, Germany, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Croatia by breaking them into their smallest parts called Fundamental Elements and thereby offering objective comparability. After reviewing and comparing training programs in The United Kingdom and The Republic of Croatia for qualifications, required for operating boats and yachts, set by the appropriate Authorities, this paper analyzed skipper/yacht master certification scheme in terms of theoretical education and practical trainings, syllabus contents, required experience, examination methods and evaluated the overall characteristics. At the end, the authors pointed out to some deficiencies in current training program in The Republic of Croatia and drew the conclusion that experience and lessons from other training programs can find purpose for training program reform in their own country.

Outcome of the 2015 five-yearly review: decision time

CERN Multimedia

Staff Association

2015-01-01

To ensure that CERN remains a centre of excellence in the field of fundamental research, the Organization verifies every five years with the help of a Five-yearly review procedure whether the financial and social conditions which it proposes to its staff allow it to recruit and retain Staff Members of the highest competence and integrity required for the execution of its mission and coming from all Member States. For Fellows these conditions should remain attractive compared with those in comparable research institutions, while for Associated members of personnel the conditions should allow it to host them in its research facilities taking into account the highest cost-of-living level in the local region of the Organization. Annex A1 of the CERN Staff Rules prescribes the principles of how to manage this Five-Yearly process. Getting ready In order to prepare the 2015 Five-yearly review and to help define the topics which had to be decided by the CERN Council in June 2014, the Staff Association has organized ...

Carbon Storage Potential of Forest Land: A Comparative Study of Cases in Finland and Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martina Tijardović

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: The concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been increasing over the last hundred years in relation to the Fourth IPCC assessment report that highlighted human activities as a direct influence on climate changes. Since Croatia and Finland signed the Kyoto Protocol, they are both committed to fulfil international obligations of lowering GHG’s emissions, enhancing the storage, as well as protecting and enhancing the current pools where the forestry sector has a prominent role. These obligations created a need for a review on carbon storage potentials for both countries with the aim of setting further scientific and management guidelines as the basic purpose of this research. Materials and Methods: Data collection was conducted within the scope of the Sort Term Scientific Mission (STSM in the period from May 2 – July 22, 2009 in the Finnish Forest Research Institute in Joensuu. The research encompassed an overview of literature, personal contacts with scientists and experts from both countries (research institutes, ministries, the EFI branch office in Joensuu and a field inspection which altogether provided an insight into the applied silvicultural and utilization activities. A significant data source were official documents and published project results on the carbon storage potential. Results and Discussion: Mitigation activities within the framework of the LULUCF project reduced the total emissions for 33.4 millions tons of CO2 equivalents in Finland in 2006 (this data has varied from 18 to 33.4 millions tons CO2 equivalents in the last fifteen years while for Croatia the availability of such data is limited. Finland has some former agricultural land which may be afforested but not in the substantial share, while in Croatia such areas amount to around 1 million ha. According to the climate change scenario for Finland (FINADAPT, predicting the largest climate changes, the total forest growth

Investigator Argus X-12 study on the population of northern Croatia

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Josip Crnjac

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract X chromosome STR typing has emerged recently as a powerful tool, complementary to autosomal STR typing, in solving complex forensic and missing person cases. Investigator® Argus X-12 is a commercial product that allows co-amplification of 12 X chromosomal markers belonging to four linkage groups (LGs. In this study, we analyzed by capillary electrophoresis blood samples from 100 females and 102 males from a population of northern Croatia. Statistical analysis included calculation of allele and haplotype frequencies, as well as forensic parameters. The most informative marker for the northern Croatia population was DXS10135 with PIC=0.9211 and a total of 27 alleles. The least polymorphic marker was DXS8378 with 6 alleles. The proportion of observed haplotypes from the number of possible haplotypes varied from 2.74–8.57% across all LGs, with LG1 being the most informative. Of the 11 tested world populations compared to the population of northern Croatia, significant differences in genetic distance (FST were found for Greenlandic and all non-European populations. We found that all tested markers are in HWE and can thus be used for match probability calculation. Because of high combined power of discrimination in both men and women, Investigator® Argus X-12 is applicable for the northern Croatia population in routine forensic casework.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA AS AN INVESTMENT DESTINATION

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Martina Hedda Sola

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Research has shown that foreign direct investments benefit the economic development of a host country. However, numerous examples of an inadequate investment structure point to the possible damages for an economic, as well as socio- political development of a country. The purpose of this paper is to looks into the structure of total foreign direct investments realised in the Republic of Croatia and, by using scientific methods, analyse the importance and the effect of foreign direct investments on the Croatian economy. Through following world’s the best practice, the paper offers a comparative analysis of the Republic of Croatia and the countries of the region, with the purpose of identifying the institutional obstacles for investment and producing a detailed SWOT analysis of the Republic of Croatia as an investment destination. Despite numerous existing conventions and protocols, a desired degree of adjustment to international conventions has not yet been achieved, which hinders investment. The Government should create a protection mechanism in order to keep the investors in the times of crisis, as well as policy of attracting the strategically oriented investments that will facilitate long-term economic growth. The first method through which it is possible to define a strategy of attracting strategically oriented investments into the economy, is the qualitative identification of the Republic of Croatia as an investment destination through SWOT analysis.

E-commerce Analysis in selected European Union Countries: Position of Croatia

OpenAIRE

Kurnoga, Nataša; Slišković, Ana

2017-01-01

Computer and mobile technology, Internet use and e-commerce have grown enormously in recent years. The main aim of this paper was to analyse the e-commerce of Croatia, the European Union (EU) countries and the post-transition EU countries. Due to technological progress, the paper among other things, analyses the trend of online purchase at the Croatian and the EU level. The analysis revealed the presence of a linear trend. Furthermore, hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses were u...

75 FR 80300 - Five-Year Review of Oil Pipeline Pricing Index

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-22

...] Five-Year Review of Oil Pipeline Pricing Index Issued December 16, 2010. AGENCY: Federal Energy... five-year review of the oil pricing index, established in Order No. 561. After consideration of the... period commencing July 1, 2011. \\1\\ Five-Year Review of Oil Pipeline Pricing Index, 75 FR 34959 (June 21...

An empirical analysis of consumer awareness and trust in organic food legislation in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vesna Brčić-Stipčević

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Background: The results of the research conducted in March 2009 on a representative sample of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia using a highly structured survey questionnaire in households have shown that the majority of the respondents (76.6% are familiar with organic food. In the survey, special emphasis is put on the purchase of organic food, especially among regular buyers. Methods: Regular buyers were asked about their familiarity with the information on the organic food declaration and their trust in the reliability of the information on the organic food declaration. Furthermore, research explored respondents' familiarity with the label organic product of Croatia according to frequency of organic food purchase. Also, research explored consumer trust in organic food monitoring and control system in Croatia.  Results and conclusions:  The research gives insight into familiarity with measures for organic food consumer protection in Croatia and recommendations for organic food legislation bodies.  

Regional competitiveness in the context of “New industrial policy” – the case of Croatia

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Katarina Bačić

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to do research on regional conditions that are most conducive to maximising the positive effects of the implementation of “New industrial policy” (policy based on Smart specialisation strategy to regional competitiveness in Croatia. Rather than using the standard but fragmented system of counties, this small post-transition economy is first mapped into five regions following the concept of regional innovation systems (RISs. Essentially, RIS concept rests on an idea that interactions among regional agents lead to the creation of optimal innovation output, while policy based on Smart specialisation strategy in Croatia is a national policy that promotes creation of innovative products and services in five promising domains and 13 sub-thematic areas. Analysis is carried out in two steps, firstly using a data-driven approach employed in a multidimensional framework for assessing regional accessibility, absorptive capacity and diffusion of knowledge in the context of Smart specialisation strategy (S3 implementation. In the second step, the assumption of post-transition reliance on the external knowledge and technology in producing innovation output is examined via regional presence of high-technology firms, GDP per capita and international trade and investment variables and patents per 100.000 inhabitants using cluster analysis (Ward method. The results show that highly internationalised regions with higher density of hightechnology firms already produce relatively more innovation output per capita. With already favourable conditions in place, these progressive regions are most likely to reinforce their competitive advantages through the transformation of their economic structures enabled by implementation of S3.

Correlation between Annual Corn Crop per Hectare in Croatia and Drought Indices for Zagreb-Gric Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Pandzic, Kreso; Likso, Tanja

2017-04-01

Correlation coefficients between annual corn crop per hectare in Croatia and 9-month Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for Zagreb - Gric for August are shown as significant. The results indicate that there is also a significant correlation between those drought indices and drought damages. Thus a forecast of the indices for August could be used for estimation e.g. annual corn crop per hectare in Croatia. Better results could be expected if statistical relationship between annual corn crops per hectare will be considered on county level instead the whole Croatia and indices calculated for weather stations for the same county. Effective way for reduction of drought damages is irrigation which need to be significantly improved in future in Croatia

Internship workplace preferences of final-year medical students at Zagreb University Medical School, Croatia: all roads lead to Zagreb.

Science.gov (United States)

Polasek, Ozren; Kolcic, Ivana; Dzakula, Aleksandar; Bagat, Mario

2006-04-01

Human resources management in health often encounters problems related to workforce geographical distribution. The aim of this study was to investigate the internship workplace preferences of final-year medical students and the reasons associated with their choices. A total of 204 out of 240 final-year medical students at Zagreb University Medical School, Croatia, were surveyed a few months before graduation. We collected data on each student's background, workplace preference, academic performance and emigration preferences. Logistic regression was used to analyse the factors underlying internship workplace preference, classified into two categories: Zagreb versus other areas. Only 39 respondents (19.1%) wanted to obtain internships outside Zagreb, the Croatian capital. Gender and age were not significantly associated with internship workplace preference. A single predictor variable significantly contributed to the logistic regression model: students who believed they would not get the desired specialty more often chose Zagreb as a preferred internship workplace (odds ratio 0.32, 95% CI 0.12-0.86). A strong preference for Zagreb as an internship workplace was recorded. Uncertainty about getting the desired specialty was associated with choosing Zagreb as a workplace, possibly due to more extensive and diverse job opportunities.

Budget perspective in Croatia after accession to the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petar Sopek

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Upon accession to the European Union, the New Member State’s budget undergoes significant structural changes due to the appearance of new categories of revenues and expenditures. The aim of this paper is to estimate the possible effects of Croatian membership in the EU on changes in the structure and size of budget revenues and expenditures upon the country’s accession to the EU in the second half of 2013, as well as to indicate the possibilities for utilization of EU funds in the new financial perspective up to 2020. It is shown that in 2013 Croatia might realize a positive net financial position in transactions with the EU budget in the amount of approximately 0.28% of GDP, i.e. EUR 136 m. The total net financial position of Croatia due to EU accession, which includes some additional costs and benefits like different harmonization and the need for project co-financing at state and local levels, is also positive in 2013 and amounts to approximately 0.15% of GDP or equivalently EUR 72 m. Total amount of all funds that Croatia might receive in the new EU financial perspective covering the period from 2014 to 2020 amounts to EUR 6.34 bn, whereby annual amounts increase from EUR 0.7 bn in 2014 up to EUR 1.2 bn in 2020. By using exponential regression analysis it is estimated that in 2020 Croatia should be a net recipient of funds from the EU budget in total amount of 1.72% of GDP, i.e. EUR 1.13 bn.

Geothermal energy in Croatia and the world until 2020; Geotermijska energija u svijetu i Hrvatskoj do 2020. godine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jelic, K; Kevric, I [Rudarsko-geolosko-naftni fakultet, Zagreb (Croatia); Cubric, S [INA-Naftaplin, Zagreb (Croatia)

1997-12-31

The use of geothermal energy in watering place, heating, the production of electric power, and for other purposes is increasing throughout the world. Over the past ten years, besides traditional production from natural thermal wells, this energy has also been produced in Croatia from geothermal wells discovered as a results of deep exploration drilling for hydrocarbons. This paper analyses the current state of geothermal energy both in the world and in Croatia, and makes projections about its immediate future. Energy potential data on the croatian part of the Panonian basin are given along with perspective locations for producing this ecologically acceptable and partially reusable energy. (author). 5 figs., 2 tabs., 9 refs.

MAPPING OF TOURISM POTENTIAL: THE PRECONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN CONTINENTAL CROATIA

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Mario Banožić

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Many Croatian scientists indicate that there are significant opportunities in tourism that can beneficially influence the overall socio-economic development of Croatia. It is recognised that Croatia has to follow more closely the contemporary tourism trends, in which much greater attention is given to ecology, the cultural identity of the destination, active vacations, service quality and selective forms of tourism development. There is also agreement that the clean sea, the coast, and the abundance of natural and cultural beauty are the advantages of Croatia’s tourism supply in the maritime part of the country. However, there are some discussions that the Continental part of Croatia is also abundant in natural beauty, cultural wealth, and gastronomy, and that it has many other underutilised tourism potentials. Different viewpoints on tourism in Croatia are based on statistical indicators, such as the level of development of tourist regions expressed through investments in infrastructure, the number of employed and the direct benefit of tourism to the economy. Despite the fact that the Continental part of Croatia abounds in tourism potential, what is offered is recognised only locally. This problem has negative impacts at the strategic level, as project planning and financing need to have a regional dimension. Some authors (Kušen, 1999; Koščak, 1998; Krippendorf, 1986; Müller, 1994; Stabler, 1996; Travis et al., 1994 have developed a cadastre of tourism potential, which has never been implemented. Therefore, this paper aims to map the tourism potentials of Continental Croatia by using the triple helix model, based on which regional tourism can be developed and future project funding ensured.

Investigations of 90 SR activity concentrations in animal bones in Croatia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maracic, M.; Franic, Z.; Marovic, G. [Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb (Croatia)

2006-07-01

The paper describes investigations of 90 Sr activity concentrations in long bones of some domestic animals (cows, pigs and lambs) collected over the last ten years in the Republic of Croatia. These investigations are a part of an extended and still ongoing monitoring programme of radioactive contamination of human environment in Croatia. Bone is a critical organ for the accumulation of many radionuclides, including 90 Sr, a highly toxic radionuclide, similar to calcium in its chemicalaviour and metabolic processes. It has been found that the 90 Sr activity concentrations in bones differ between respective animal species, the highest activity concentrations being found in lamb bones. As the decrease of activity concentrations can be generally described by the exponential function, by fitting the measured data to the theoretical curve was estimated the ecological half-life of 90 Sr in bones of respective species. In addition was investigated the relation between 90 Sr activity concentrations in bones and fallout. The transient increases and decreases in 90 Sr activity concentrations in bones can be partially explained by a variety of environmental physical factors that naturally fluctuate. (authors)

Investigations of 90 SR activity concentrations in animal bones in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maracic, M.; Franic, Z.; Marovic, G.

2006-01-01

The paper describes investigations of 90 Sr activity concentrations in long bones of some domestic animals (cows, pigs and lambs) collected over the last ten years in the Republic of Croatia. These investigations are a part of an extended and still ongoing monitoring programme of radioactive contamination of human environment in Croatia. Bone is a critical organ for the accumulation of many radionuclides, including 90 Sr, a highly toxic radionuclide, similar to calcium in its chemical behaviour and metabolic processes. It has been found that the 90 Sr activity concentrations in bones differ between respective animal species, the highest activity concentrations being found in lamb bones. As the decrease of activity concentrations can be generally described by the exponential function, by fitting the measured data to the theoretical curve was estimated the ecological half-life of 90 Sr in bones of respective species. In addition was investigated the relation between 90 Sr activity concentrations in bones and fallout. The transient increases and decreases in 90 Sr activity concentrations in bones can be partially explained by a variety of environmental physical factors that naturally fluctuate. (authors)

Kratom abuse in Ramathibodi Poison Center, Thailand: a five-year experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Trakulsrichai, Satariya; Tongpo, Achara; Sriapha, Charuwan; Wongvisawakorn, Sunun; Rittilert, Panee; Kaojarern, Sming; Wananukul, Winai

2013-01-01

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa Korth), a native tree in Southeast Asia, is misused as an abuse drug and becomes legally widespread to several countries. Currently, it is available through the online market or by some shops. The clinical manifestations of Kratom's effects are not well-defined and the clinical studies are limited. This study was designed to identify the characteristics of Kratom poisoning and withdrawal cases from Kratom exposure cases in Ramathibodi Poison Center (RPC), Thailand, during a five-year period. We used a retrospective review of Kratom exposure cases from the RPC toxic surveillance system. A total of 52 Kratom exposure cases were identified. The trend of case consultations has been increasing. There were Kratom poisoning cases (76.9%) and withdrawal cases (23.1%). Common presenting symptoms in the poisoning group were palpitation (22.5%), followed by seizure (17.5%). For the withdrawal group, the common presenting symptoms were myalgia (33.3%), insomnia (16.67%), fatigue (16.67%), and chest discomfort (16.67%). There was a baby with withdrawal symptoms who was delivered from a chronic Kratom-abusing mother, suggesting possible exposure via the transplacental route. There were no deaths in either group. Kratom abuse can cause either poisoning or withdrawal. Most cases in both groups had good prognostic outcome.

Drug usage by outpatients in Croatia during an 8-year period: Influence of changes in pricing policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Vitezic, Dinko; Madjarevic, Tomislav; Gantumur, Monja; Buble, Tonci; Vitezic, Miomira; Kovacevic, Miljenko; Mrsic-Pelcic, Jasenka; Sestan, Branko

2012-07-01

The aim of our study was to investigate the changes in drug usage and financial expenditure according to legal changes in Croatia during the period 2001 - 2008, especially considering pricing policy. The data on outpatient drug usage during the studied period was obtained from the Croatian National Health Insurance (CNHI). CNHI maintains a database on drugs prescribed by primary health care physicians and dispensed by pharmacies. The data was calculated and presented in defined daily doses (DDD) per inhabitant per year for antibiotics and in DDD/1,000 inhabitants/day for other drugs. The data is also presented in Euro/DDD and the financial expenditures are presented in Euros. During the investigated period drug usage increased 81.33%, while financial expenditure increased 77.23%. While total DDD/1,000 increased ~ 10% every year, financial expenditure increased 10 - 20% annually until 2006, but since then there have been no significant changes. Pricing policy changes could influence drug financial expenditure considerably in the short-term, but it is also important to apply a combination of measures for drug expenditure control. Numerous interventions from authorities from different countries all over the world, prove that there is still no so called "gold standard" which could restrain growing usage and expenditure of drugs. Clinical pharmacologists and clinical pharmacists should be included in these processes.

Emotional Experience Improves With Age: Evidence Based on Over 10 Years of Experience Sampling

Science.gov (United States)

Carstensen, Laura L.; Turan, Bulent; Scheibe, Susanne; Ram, Nilam; Ersner-Hershfield, Hal; Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R.; Brooks, Kathryn P.; Nesselroade, John R.

2012-01-01

Recent evidence suggests that emotional well-being improves from early adulthood to old age. This study used experience-sampling to examine the developmental course of emotional experience in a representative sample of adults spanning early to very late adulthood. Participants (N = 184, Wave 1; N = 191, Wave 2; N = 178, Wave 3) reported their emotional states at five randomly selected times each day for a one week period. Using a measurement burst design, the one-week sampling procedure was repeated five and then ten years later. Cross-sectional and growth curve analyses indicate that aging is associated with more positive overall emotional well-being, with greater emotional stability and with more complexity (as evidenced by greater co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions). These findings remained robust after accounting for other variables that may be related to emotional experience (personality, verbal fluency, physical health, and demographic variables). Finally, emotional experience predicted mortality; controlling for age, sex, and ethnicity, individuals who experienced relatively more positive than negative emotions in everyday life were more likely to have survived over a 13 year period. Findings are discussed in the theoretical context of socioemotional selectivity theory. PMID:20973600

Water balance of the Republic of Croatia: achievements and necessities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonaccil, Ognjen; Horvat, Bojana

2004-01-01

The paper presents recent results of water balance of the Republic of Croatia based on definition of average values for the thirty years period from 1961 to 1990. The long-term mean hydrological balance for the seventeen watersheds is presented as P·Q=ET, where P is average annual precipitation in a watershed, Q is average annual runoff from the watershed, and ET is average annual evapotranspiration (runoff deficit) from a watershed given in mm and m3/s. The simplified water balances according to given equation does not consider the distribution of hydrological variables into components as well as: variation of water storage within the catchment; water volumes infiltrating in or flowing out from the deep strata, etc. Most of the runoff data is based on the measured values, while the dispersed surface water and groundwater flows are estimated using regional analyses. The annual average precipitation is 1162 mm or 2083 m 3 /s. The annual average inner water runoff is 461 mm or 827m 3 /s, while transit water runoff is 2303 mm or 4130 m 3 /s. Croatia is the country rich in water with unevenly (in space and time) distributed water resources due to extremely variable geological setting (karst and flatland) and different climatic conditions (Mediterranean and continental climate).(Author)

The Analysis of the Impact of Depreciation on External Debt in Long Run: Evidence From Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irena Palić

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The impact of exchange rate changes in small open economies has been a widely researched topic for decades. According to economic theory and relevant research, depreciation can have a positive impact on the economy through an increase in exports, and a negative effect through decrease in an individual consumption. The aim of this artcle is to assess the impact of exchange rate depreciation on external debt in Croatia in the long-run. The long-run impact of depreciation on external debt in Croatia is assessed using Johansen cointegration approach. The results point to the existence of one cointegration relation. The long-run impact of exchange rate depreciation on external debt in Croatia is statistically significant and positive, what is in line with previous research and economic theory. The conducted analysis outlines the possible negative impact of depreciation on Croatian economy through the increase of external indebtedness, what could consequently decrease the wealth of all sectors indebted in foreign currency. Since Croatia is a highly euroised small open economy with high external indebtedness in foreign currency, this research provides captivating results for monetary and fiscal policy-making in Croatia. Therefore, as a result of the conducted empirical analysis, the exchange rate depreciation in Croatia is not recommended as the instrument of increasing export competitiveness due to current high external indebtedness in foreign currency.

Significant achievements in '10th five-year plan' period and primary guidance in '11th five-year plan' period on uranium exploration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Jindai; Li Youliang; Jian Xiaofei; Peng Xinjian; Jiang Deying

2007-01-01

During the '10th five-year-plane' period, uranium resource had attracted high attention and concentration from related organization of the CCPC and the central government because of the state's manifestation on the development goal for nuclear power, efforts on uranium research and exploration were intensified accordingly. In that five years, both uranium exploration, regional assessment and prognostication for the Mesozoic-Cenozoic basin in North China and research on uranium metallogeny theory and prospecting method had made fairly great progress and reached important fruits. Due to the improvement of prospecting theory and technology for ISL amenable sandstone hosted U-deposits, uranium exploration efficiency was great enhanced and had prompted the sustainable development for China's uranium exploration. This paper have briefly expounded the general deploy for the uranium geology research and exploration in the '11th five-year plan' period. (authors)

[Pharmacoeconomic indicators of cardiovascular drug utilization in the Republic of Croatia and city of Zagreb in 2008].

Science.gov (United States)

Stimac, Danijela; Stambuk, Ivanka

2010-12-01

In comparison with original drugs, generic drugs have the same efficacy but considerably lower price and should therefore be preferred to original drugs on prescribing. The aim of the present study was to assess outpatient utilization and rationality of cardiovascular drug prescribing in the City of Zagreb and Republic of Croatia based on the generic to original drug prescribing ratio. Data on the financial indicators and number of cardiovascular drug packages issued in 2008 were obtained from the Croatian Institute of Health Insurance. These data were used to calculate the number of defined daily doses (DDD) and number of DDD per 1000 inhabitants per day (DDD/1000/day). The index of generic/original drug utilization was determined for Zagreb and Croatia as a measure for assessment of prescribing rationality; the significance of difference was determined by X2-test. The rate of prescribing original cardiovascular drugs was significantly higher in Zagreb as compared with Croatia as a whole. The index of prescribing generic versus original drugs was 1.20 (249/208 DDD/1000/day) in Zagreb and 1.65 (249/151 DDD/1000/day) in Croatia. Difference in the utilization of generic drugs between Zagreb and Croatia as determined by X2-test (the level of statistical significance was set at PZagreb and 2.02 in Croatia; and hypolipemics with the generic/original drug index of 0.96 in Zagreb and 1.34 in Croatia. According to financial indicators, the generic/original drug index was 1.44 in Croatia and only 0.96 in Zagreb. The significantly greater influence of pharmaceutical industry marketing in Zagreb entailed the significantly higher rate of original drug prescribing, which is associated with considerably greater drug expenses. Measures to stimulate prescribing generic drugs should be launched at the national level.

A five year study of the attitudes, perceptions, and philosophies of five secondary science education teachers prepared in the constructivist teaching methodology advanced at the University of Iowa

Science.gov (United States)

Hollenbeck, James Edward

1999-11-01

The present study researched the attitudes, Perceptions, and philosophies of five secondary education science teachers prepared in the constructivist teaching methodology advanced at the University of Iowa. This study is a continuation of a three-year study---the Salish I Project supported by the US Department of Education. The teachers studied are five 1993 University of Iowa Science Education Center graduates who have taught for five years. The main objective of the present study was finding answers to four questions aiming at further understanding of the impact and importance of the preservice education in I the constructivist teaching methodology of new teachers, and the changes they experience in the first five years of teaching. The instruments used in the study are various as they cover a wide range of different categories of beliefs I in terms of teaching, learning, teacher performance and view of school. The following trends came out on reviewing all of the data: in the first year of teaching three of the five teachers studied taught as constructivist teachers. in the third year of teaching, the classroom practices of the teachers converged more closely to their beliefs and preservice preparation. In the fifth year, all five teachers were ranked as constructivist in their teaching methodology in the classroom. Using the Wilcoxson test, significant, positive relationships were revealed between the teacher's philosophy of teaching and learning, with their actual practice. Teacher's philosophy and teaching practice were compared with selected standards set forth by the National Science Education Standards and were found to be in close alignment in their fifth year of teaching. Teachers prepared in the constructivist methodology are concerned about their subject content and value student input and reflection. The teachers reported using student-initiated ideas, alternative assessment strategies and being receptive to alternatives. Other important factors

Ambulatory care sensitive conditions at out-of-hospital emergence services in Croatia: a longitudinal study based on routinely collected data.

Science.gov (United States)

Kostanjšek, Diana; Benčić, Miro; Keglević, Mladenka Vrcić

2014-12-01

Conditions for which a hospital and emergency utilization can be considered avoidable are often referred as ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs). Until now, there has been no published research related to ACSCs in Croatia. This study was undertaken with the aim of determining the trends relating to ACSCs in out-of-hospital ES from 1995-2012. The study is based on data from the Croatian Health Service Yearbooks. Five chronic and three acute conditions were chosen: diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure, angina pectoris, asthma and COPD, bacterial pneumonia, urinary tract infections and skin infections. The results indicate that the ES in Croatia is overused, and consequently ACSCs are over-represented; 23.3% Croatian citizens visited the ES and around 15% of all diagnoses belonged to the ACSCs, with decreased trend. The leading diagnosis is hypertension, followed by asthma and COPD. For a better understanding of the importance of ACSC within the Croatian context, further research is needed.

Multielement atmospheric deposition study in Croatia using moss biomonitoring, NAA, AAS and GIS technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spiric, Z.; Frontas'eva, M.V.; Gundorina, S.F.; Ostrovnaya, T.M.; Stafilov, T.; Enimiteva, V.; Steinnes, E.; Bukovec, D.

2009-01-01

For the first time the moss biomonitoring technique and two complementary analytical techniques - neutron activation analysis (NAA) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) - were applied to study multielement atmospheric deposition in the Republic of Croatia. Moss samples were collected during the summer 2006 from 98 sites evenly distributed over the country. Sampling was performed in accordance with the LRTAP Convention - ICP Vegetation protocol and sampling strategy of the European Programme on Biomonitoring of Heavy Metal Atmospheric Deposition. Conventional and epithermal neutron activation analyses made it possible to determine concentrations of 41 elements including key heavy metals such as Pb, Cd, Hg, and Cu determined by AAS. Principal component analysis (factor analysis with VARIMAX rotation) was applied to distinguish elements mainly of anthropogenic origin from those predominantly originating from natural sources. Geographical distribution maps of the elements over the sampled territory were constructed using GIS technology. The median values for Croatia are consistent with the corresponding values for all Europe for most elements. It was shown that the Adriatic coastline of Croatia may be considered as an environmentally pristine area. This study was conducted for providing reliable assessment of air quality throughout Croatia and producing information needed for better identification of pollution sources and improving the potential for assessing environmental and health risks in Croatia associated with toxic metals

Croatia's EU Accession: Socio-economic Assessment of Farm Households and Policy Recommendations

OpenAIRE

Möllers, Judith; Zier, Patrick; Frohberg, Klaus; Buchenrieder, Gertrud; Bojnec, Stefan

2009-01-01

Croatia is very close to meeting the requirements necessary for becoming a member of the European Union (EU). On February 6, 2008, the European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that accession negotiations with Croatia are moving ahead well. As in all new member states (NMS), the agricultural sector and food processing chain are core issues within the negotiation process. Successful negotiation requires intimate knowledge of the issue at hand, including the socio-economic situation and ...

BUSINESS TRANSFER ECOSYSTEM IN CROATIA - MISSING COMPONENTS AND INTERACTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alpeza Mirela

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Business transfer is an important issue that the European Commission has been actualising since the early 1990s, when the first recommendations for the improvement of national business transfer ecosystems of the EU countries were created. Neglecting business transfer as a critical phase in the development of a company can have significant negative implications for companies, their owners and wide network of stakeholders. Business transfer is a particularly important topic for the Croatian economy where more than 5,300 businesses with around 57,000 employees represent a risk group whose owners underestimate the complexity and longevity of the business transfer process. The aim of this paper is to analyse the structure and quality of the business transfer ecosystem in Croatia. For this purpose, secondary research and a qualitative study in the form of interviews with representatives of key stakeholders were conducted. The Croatian business transfer ecosystem is benchmarked to the national business transfer ecosystems of Spain, Finland, Sweden and France, based on the data collected through the EU project BTAR. The research results indicate low level of development, interconnection and complementarity of individual components of the business transfer ecosystem in Croatia. Policy recommendations for improving the quality of the business transfer ecosystem in Croatia were identified.

Importance of bottom-up approach in water management - sustainable development of catchment areas in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Pavic, M.; Cosic-Flajsig, G.; Petricec, M.; Blazevic, Z.

2012-04-01

Association for preservation of Croatian waters and sea SLAP is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that gathers more than 150 scientist, hydrologist and civil engineers. SLAP has been established in 2006 and since then had organized many conferences and participated in projects dealing with water management. We have started our work developing plans to secure water supply to the 22 (21) villages in the rural parts of Dubrovnik (Pozega) area and trough the years we have accumulated knowledge and experience in dealing with stakeholders in hydrology and water management. Within this paper we will present importance of bottom-up approach to the stakeholders in water management in Croatia on two case studies: (1) Management of River Trebizat catchment area - irrigation of the Imotsko-Bekijsko rural parts; (2) Development of multipurpose water reservoirs at the River Orljava catchment area. Both projects were designed in the mid and late 1980's but due to the war were forgotten and on halt. River Trebizat meanders between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and acquires joint management by both countries. In 2010 and 2011 SLAP has organized conferences in both countries gathering all the relevant stakeholders from representatives of local and state governments, water management companies and development agencies to the scientist and interested NGO's. The conferences gave firm scientific background of the topic including presentation of all previous studies and measurements as well as model results but presented in manner appropriate to the stakeholders. The main result of the conference was contribution to the development of joint cross-border project sent to the EU Pre-Accession funds in December 2011 with the aim to strengthen capacities of both countries and prepare larger project dealing with management of the whole Trebizat catchment area to EU structural funds once Croatia enters EU in 2013. Similar approach was taken for the Orljava catchment in the northern

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RELIGIOUS TOURISM IN CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eddy Rot

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Croatia has a rich sacral (tangible and intangible heritage, which undoubtedly has great cultural value, and part of the religious heritage has been included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO. The fact is, however, that, except when it comes to top attractions, churches as tourist facilities, are poorly attended and do not get almost no direct tourism income.. In this paper, after the introductory explanations of basic terms related to religious tourism and pilgrimage, we explore the basic features of religious tourism in Croatia, both on tourist attractions, as well as on the tourist demand. It also presents the results of empirical research on the socio-demographic profile of the author, the role of religion in the life of pilgrims and the satisfaction of the visitors to the Shrine of Mary of Bistrica in 2013 among 50 pilgrims in Marija Bistrica. The main objective is to determine how the pilgrims perceived the tourism offer in religious tourism.

Survey of Equipment Quality Control in Radiotherapy Centers in Croatia: First Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jurkovic, S.; Diklic, A.; Smilovic Radojcic, Dj.; Svabic, M.; Kasabasic, M.; Ivkovic, A.; Faj, D.

2011-01-01

Implementation of advanced radiation therapy techniques into clinical practice has a huge influence on tumour control as well as normal tissue sparing. Introduction of Conformal Radiation Therapy (CRT) and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) into clinical practice results in precise 'tailoring' of dose distributions and according to that in reduction of irradiated volumes. This is not possible without, for the application of advanced radiation therapy techniques constructed, linear accelerators. They must be very precise, well tuned and maintained. In this way the milestone of radiation therapy quality assurance programme is machine quality control (QC). First step in development of quality control programme is existence of written QC protocols. The survey of existence of written QC protocols showed the lack of written protocols for QC procedures in Croatian radiotherapy departments. In this way regular implementation of the procedures are usually left to the conscience of the medical physicists. In the IAEA granted projects CRO6008 and RER9093, we harmonized existing QC protocols between radiation therapy departments at University hospitals Rijeka and Osijek and developed the new ones. The protocols made according to international guidelines are publicly available at websites of the State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Safety and Croatian medical physics society in order to help other radiotherapy departments in Croatia to develop their own ones. Next step was reviewing of QC practices in different centres and exchanging experiences. For that purpose we defined a set of tests, according to the existing QC protocols. Then, on-site measurements were done to check QC parameters of linear accelerators and simulators in six radiation therapy centres in Croatia. In this paper we present the tests preformed, devices and analysing tools used, along with the overall results. Tests were preformed in six radiotherapy centres in Croatia on nine linear

Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Export Control in the Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valcic, I.; Prah, M.; Mikec, N.

2006-01-01

In accordance with its internationally accepted obligations, the Republic of Croatia is actively implementing principles of non-proliferation and export control of nuclear materials and/or equipment. The article deals with treaties, conventions, agreements and other international arrangements that are creating certain obligation for Republic of Croatia related to nuclear non-proliferation. The most important are the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, the Agreement between the Republic of Croatia and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards with Protocol, the Protocol Additional to the Agreement Between the Republic of Croatia and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, the NSG Guidelines for the Export of Nuclear Material, Equipment and Technology and NSG Guidelines for Transfers of Nuclear-Related Dual-Use Equipment, Materials, Software and Related Technology. In addition the article describes a national regulative framework, the basis for conducting activities in nuclear material control, export control of dual-use items as well as non-proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction. Details are given about the Nuclear Safety Act, the Act on Liability for Nuclear Damage, the Act on Export of Dual-Use Items, the Decree on the List of Dual-Use Items, the Law on Production, Repair and Trade in Arms and Military Equipment and the Decree specifying goods subject to export and import licenses. (author)

14C dating of early Neolithic settlement Galovo near Slavonski Brod in Northern Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krajcar Bronic, I.; Minichreiter, K.

2007-01-01

In Northern Croatia, more than hundred settlements are known from the period of the Starcevo culture, the first Neolithic period in south-east (SE) Europe. Here we present the 14 C dating of nine charcoal samples from the Neolithic settlement Galovo in Slavonski Brod. According to archaeological findings, it belongs to the early phase (Linear A) of the Starcevo culture and has a special ritual-burial area separated by two wooden fences from its residential part. The vertical stratigraphy revealed two phases of the settlement construction in period 6070-5630 cal BC. In the younger phase (5380-4960 cal BC) the settlement expanded and the burial area became smaller. Combination of archaeological findings and 14 C dates thus allowed a reconstruction of the 1000-year-long existence of this settlement that existed simultaneously with the nearby settlement Zadubravlje-Duzine, dated earlier to 6000-5000 cal BC. These are the first absolute dates of the beginning of neolithization in Northern Croatia

Energy in Croatia, Annual Energy Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-12-01

The publication creates a condensed review of the state of affairs within our energy system. It includes the latest data for 1996, which were at the same time compared to the situations from the previous four years in order to achieve a more accurate insight into all the related problems. The relation of the gross domestic product (GDP) and the electric energy consumption illustrates the fact that the economic conditions are closely connected to the development of the energy sector. In 1996 the gross domestic product was 4.2% higher than in the year before and the electric energy consumption increased by approximately the same figure. It rose from the consumed 12958.0 GWh in 1995 to 12877.9 GWh in 1996, i.e. 4.2%. The total energy consumption in 1996 increased by entire 10.8%, amounting to 352.56 PJ, this predominantly being a result of growing hydro power and natural gas consumption. The immediate energy consumption grew by 8.3%, from 185.96 PJ in 1995 to 201.35 PJ in 1996. Apart from the data included in the review, there are also other presentations referring to the energy generation and consumption in Croatia. A special chapter comprises an analysis of oil and gas system, i.e. hydrocarbon and coal reserves as well as the capacities required for oil and gas processing and transportation. The attention was directed to positive environmental incentives, as the energy sector is responsible for more than 90% of all polluting substances. Apart from the economic and financial indices, the publication includes the prices for electric energy, natural gas and oil derivations as well as maps showing the route of the gas and JANAF systems and the transmission electric energy network. The review puts forward some positive achievements in the development of our energy sector, which create the basis for continued efforts in order to bring about the desired objectives. This will be realized by defining the legislation system and the institutions ensuring high-quality market

Differences in the Fitness Levels of Urban and Rural Middle School Students in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Novak, Dario; Bernstein, Eve R.; Podnar, Hrvoje; Vozzolo, Yolanda

2015-01-01

Background: It is known that suburban youth are more fit than urban youth in Croatia. Method: Differences (p < 0.05) in fitness levels and motor abilities of 9,164 (F = 4,671, M = 4,493) Croatian children (age range: 11-14 years) from urban (F = 1,380, M = 1,268), mixed rural-urban (F = 274, M = 289), and rural (F = 3017, M = 2936) areas were…

Challenge of goodness: twelve humanitarian proposals based on the experience of 1991-1995 wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, S

1998-03-01

Based on the 1991-1995 war experience of peoples of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, I made twelve proposals regarding the following aspects of health, humanitarian work, and human rights: 1. Broadening of the WHO definition of health by including spiritual well-being (absence of hatred) in it, 2. Inclusion of the term genocide into the Index Medicus (MeSH), 3. Establishment of concepts of prevention of hate, 4. Right to a home, 5. Right of civilians to participate in defense and renewal, 6. Right to deliberation from enslavement and right to find out the fate of missing persons, 7. Global hospital, 8. Monitoring of prisoner-of-war camps, 9. Refugee camps, 10. Providing of care for the abandoned - a new category of people suffering in war, 11. Introduction of the Helping Hand concept, 12. Organization of the Red Cross Forum after the cessation of hostilities. The fundamental objective was to establish the legitimacy of honesty in practice, regulative social mechanisms, and science.

A Summer at the University: A twenty five years experience with High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Zamorano, Nelson

2014-03-01

After running a summer school for enthusiastic high school students for 25 years, we reached the point where three of my colleagues at the physics department, are exstudents from two physics courses offered (more than ten years ago) within our program. There are also graduates in some others Faculties in different universities. Here we would like to describe the evolution of this project since its beginning, with 60 students in an introductory physics class to the 3000 now attending (January 2014) the around 60 courses offered in almost all areas of knowledge, from theater to Biotechnology. Lately, as we became aware of the relevance of teaching sciences to young kids in elementary school, we started a winter section addressing this group of students. The courses are mainly a hands on experience. In this talk we will comment about our learning experience working on this kind of projects and our projections for the future. Partial travel support from Escuela de Verano.

New Accomplishments and Development of INIS in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novosel, N.; Pleslic Jovicic, S.

1998-01-01

International Nuclear Information System (INIS) is the leading information system on peaceful use of nuclear energy in the world. INIS is realized through co-operation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its member states. It contains information related to literature on nuclear science and technology in the form of a bibliographic record. The Republic of croatia became an INIS member at the end of 1994 and since then this database has been available in a written form as INIS Atomindex and on CD-ROM. Moreover, several representatives of expert organizations have been trained for searching the database and for formulating of input data for INIS. This article describes new accomplishments in the development of the INIS database and joining of Croatia into the international exchange of nuclear information through national contribution in the form of INIS input data. (author)

Energy policy as the bridge in Croatia's approach to the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuvela, I.

2000-01-01

The introduction of the paper brings elements of the EU energy policy through three development phases. in order to decrease deficit in energy resources, the Union required from the member-countries to adjust their national energy policies to the common strategic interests of the Union and to exploit the synergic effects' advantages brought by the energy sector integration and common energy market. In continuation the energy policy development and the newest reform of energy sector in Croatia are analysed, which will introduce market relations and the rationalisation of energy production and consumption into the sector. The comparative analysis of energy policies and long-term tendencies of energy development reveals some substantial similarities in the development of energy sector and energy policy of the EU and Croatia. Therefore, it can be presumed the energy reform implementation would bring croatia close to the energy standards of the EU. (author)

Brain drain: final year medical students' intentions of training abroad.

Science.gov (United States)

Bojanic, Ana; Bojanic, Katarina; Likic, Robert

2015-06-01

In Croatia, a new European Union (EU) member state since July 2013, there is already a shortage of around 3280 doctors to reach the European average. To investigate the emigration intentions of the current cohort of final year medical students at Zabreb School of Medicine. An electronic questionnaire was used in June 2013 to assess the attitudes of 232 final year medical students towards working conditions abroad and expectations for career opportunities in Croatia following accession to the EU. With an overall response rate of 87%, more than half of the surveyed students (106/202, 53%) intended to travel abroad, either for specialty (52/202, 26%) or subspecialty (54/202, 27%) training. More female students (58/135, 43%) than male students (17/62, 27%) indicated they would not emigrate. Most attractive emigration destinations were: Germany (34/121, 28%), USA (19/121, 16%), the UK (19/121, 16%), Switzerland (16/121, 13%) and Canada (11/121, 9%). The most important goals that respondents aimed to achieve through training abroad were to excel professionally (45/120, 38%), to prosper financially (20/120, 17%) and to acquire new experiences and international exposure (31/120, 26%). Students' motivating factors, goals for and positive beliefs about training abroad, as well as negative expectations regarding career opportunities in Croatia, may point towards actions that could be taken to help make Croatia a country that facilitates medical education and professional career development of young doctors. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Radwaste management and transport in the Republic of Croatia -present status and main issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kucar Dragicevic, S.; Subasic, D.

1996-01-01

Radioactive waste in Croatia is generated from various nuclear applications as well as from Krsko NPP (a joint venture Slovenian and Croatian facility). The national programme on radioactive waste management is aimed at straightening existing infrastructure in the field, establishing a new and more transparent system of responsibilities as well as developing new legislation. The siting of the LLW/ILW repository in the Republic of Croatia is one of the most important steps in the whole radioactive waste management cycle. A review of the main activities, the role of institutions involved and some on-going projects which cover the present situation in the field of radioactive waste management in Croatia are presented. (Author)

Capital Structure Determinants of Small and Medium Enterprises in Croatia

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Nataša Šarlija

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Most of the research about capital structure is focused towards two theories: trade off theory (TOT and pecking order theory (POT. The idea is to explore which theory works better in certain conditions and identify the key determinants that affect the capital structure of the company. However, in different countries different determinants with opposite relation to the leverage are found to be significant. Besides, most of the previous researches are oriented on listed companies. The aim of this paper is to analyse the capital structure of small and medium enterprises in Croatia through the analysis of the fundamental determinants of the capital structure. The research was conducted on a data sample of 500 SMEs in Croatia in the period of 2005–2011. On the unbalanced panel data set a linear regression is applied. Influence of determinants on leverage is estimated by a static panel model with random effect and with fixed effect estimation. Four capital structure determinants are analysed: growth, size, profitability and tangible assets. The results of this research support the pecking order theory confirming that SMEs in Croatia are primarily financed frominternally generated funds that affect profitability, growth, tangible assets and enterprise size.

Biological Control of the Invasive Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae - an Overview and the First Trials in Croatia

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Dinka Matošević

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Dryocosmus kuriphilus is a globally invasive insect pest, spreading very quickly in new habitats and making serious damage to sweet chestnut forests in Croatia and in several other European countries. Indigenous parasitoid species trophically associated with oak gallwasps have adapted to this new host but cannot effectively regulate its population density. Classical biological control using parasitoid Torymus sinensis has been proven to be the only effective method of controlling the populations of D. kuriphilus and has been successfully applied in Japan, South Korea, the USA and Italy. The aim of this review paper is to provide overview and up-to date knowledge about biological control of D. kurphilus and to describe first steps of introduction of T. sinensis to sweet chestnut forests in Croatia. Conclusions and Future Prospects: Results presented in this paper show adapted biology and behavioural traits of T. sinensis to its host D. kuriphilus. The history and results of introductions of T. sinensis to Japan, the USA, Italy, France and Hungary are shown. The first report of release of T. sinensis to sweet chestnut forests in Croatia is given with discussion on native parasitoids attacking D. kuriphilus. Possible negative effects of T. sinensis on native parasitoid fauna and risks that could influence the successful establishment of T. sinensis in Croatia are discussed. Previous experiences have shown that T. sinensis can successfully control the population density of D. kuriphilus, slowing down the spread and mitigating negative impact of this invasive chestnut pest and keeping the damage of D. kuriphilus at acceptable level. High specificity of T. sinensis suggests that it has limited potential of exploiting native hosts but further detailed monitoring of native parasitoid and possible interactions with introduced T. sinensis is strongly suggested.

Does corruption undermine trust in health care? Results from public opinion polls in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Radin, Dagmar

2013-12-01

Health and health care provision are one of the most important topics in public policy, and often a highly debated topic in the political arena. The importance of considering trust in the health care sector is highlighted by studies showing that trust is associated, among others, with poor self-related health, and poorer health outcomes. Similarly, corruption has shown to create economic costs and inefficiencies in the health care sector. This is particularly important for a newly democratized country such as Croatia, where a policy responsive government indicates a high level of quality of democracy (Roberts, 2009) and where a legacy of corruption in the health care sector has been carried over from the previous regime. In this study, I assess the relationship between health care corruption and trust in public health care and hypothesize that experience with health care corruption as well as perception of corruption has a negative effect on trust in public care facilities. Data were collected in two surveys, administered in 2007 and 2009 in Croatia. Experience with corruption and salience with corruption has a negative effect on trust in public health care in the 2007 survey, but not in the 2009 survey. While the results are mixed, they point to the importance of further studying this relationship. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Volatiles of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don from Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeljković, Sanja Ćavar; Šolić, Marija Edita; Maksimović, Milka

2015-01-01

Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don is a flowering plant of the family Asteraceae. It is rich in oil that is used for different medicinal purposes and in fragrance industry. Volatile profile of four populations of H. italicum, collected from natural habitat in Dalmatia (Croatia), was analysed by capillary GC-MS. Sample from BraČ Island had α-trans-bergamotene (10.2%) and β-acoradiene (10.1%) as the majors, whereas sample collected on Biokovo Mt. was rich in neryl acetate (8.1%). β-Acoradiene was also the main constituent of sample collected near Tijarica, whereas rosifoliol (8.5%) was the most abundant constituent in sample collected near Makarska. Presented results show the influence of environmental conditions on chemical differentiation of the volatiles of H. italicum from Croatia.

Attitude of Management Students towards Whistleblowing: Evidence from Croatia

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Mario Bogdanovic

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This study examines the attitude of management students towards whistleblowing in a sample of 121 master students of business ethics at the Faculty of Economics University in Split, Croatia. The three measurement instruments include whistleblowers´ attitudes (3 items, whistleblowing attitudes (2 items and potential types of whistleblowing reactions (8 items, i.e. external reactions (4 items and internal reactions (4 items. The results of the study indicated a positive attitude toward whistleblowing and whistleblowers. The authors also found that female students exhibited more confidence in management and were more prone to whistleblowing than male students. Also, students with professional experience considered whistleblowing to be in the public interest more than students with no professional experience. The results may be of practical use to managers who can benefit from whistleblowing while keeping in mind that whistleblowing can't be avoided and that punishing whistleblowers seems to be a bad managerial practice.

Developing leadership competencies among medical trainees: five-year experience at the Cleveland Clinic with a chief residents' training course.

Science.gov (United States)

Farver, Carol F; Smalling, Susan; Stoller, James K

2016-10-01

Challenges in healthcare demand great leadership. In response, leadership training programs have been developed within academic medical centers, business schools, and healthcare organizations; however, we are unaware of any well-developed programs for physicians-in-training. To address this gap, we developed a two-day leadership development course for chief residents (CRs) at the Cleveland Clinic, framed around the concept of emotional intelligence. This paper describes our five-year experience with the CRs leadership program. Since inception, 105 CRs took the course; 81 (77%) completed before-and-after evaluations. Participants indicated that they had relatively little prior knowledge of the concepts that were presented and that the workshop greatly enhanced their familiarity with leadership competencies. Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses indicated that attendees valued the training, especially in conflict resolution and teamwork, and indicated specific action plans for applying these skills. Furthermore, the workshop spurred some participants to express plans to learn more about leadership competencies. This study extends prior experience in offering an emotional intelligence-based leadership workshop for CRs. Though the program is novel, further research is needed to more fully understand the impact of leadership training for CRs and for the institutions and patients they serve. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2016.

Solar hydrogen infrastructure of road and maritime traffic in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Firak, M.

2005-01-01

In the next 10 to 20 years the world and national economy will be faced with the need to transition from traditional sources of primary energy (e.g., fossil fuels) to renewable energy resources, mainly solar and wind power. At the same time hydrogen will appear on the energy scene, so already today we discuss the coming 'Hydrogen Economy', i.e., the economy based on hydrogen use. Given such developments, the question is how and when Croatia will begin to keep up with this global scenario? One of possible answers is discussed in this paper. It starts with the fact that Croatia is a significant tourist destination, visited by 10 millions mainly motorized tourists a year. World Tourism Organization forecast the increase in foreign tourists' arrivals by 8.4 percent a year until 2020. More than 90 percent of tourists stay in the Adriatic coast and islands; 55 percent of them arrive in the two summer months. Hence, the visits occur mainly in the region where and during the season when solar energy is abundant. The other assumption is the so called Hart Report, a study addressing the introduction of hydrogen infrastructure in the European traffic road system. It projects the number of hydrogen-fueled vehicles on the roads of the EU until 2020. Based on these two assumptions estimated is the number of hydrogen-fueled vehicles that in this period could arrive to the Croatian coast and islands for which the hydrogen infrastructure should be provided. Since during the holiday season thousands of motorized vessels sail along the Croatian coast and islands and many of them have some of 'hydrogen options' installed, it will be an additional reason for development for hydrogen infrastructure on the islands. Considering the above the paper proposed the hydrogen infrastructure based on photo-voltaic technology of solar energy use and water electrolysis as hydrogen production technology. The suggestion is to connect these installations to the Croatian electricity production and

Promoting Social and Emotional Competencies among Young Children in Croatia with Preschool PATHS.

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Josipa Mihic

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Preschool PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies is an evidence-based universal prevention program focused on promoting children’s social and emotional competencies and reducing the likelihood of behaviour problems and negative relationships with peers and teachers. This paper examines changes in the social and emotional competencies of the first children to participate in Preschool PATHS in Croatia. This study included 164 children, ages 3-6, in 12 preschool classrooms in three cities across Croatia, who participated in the classroom-based Preschool PATHS curriculum. At the beginning and end of the preschool year, teachers completed wellvalidated and reliable assessments of social and emotional competencies on each child. Hierarchical linear models revealed statistically significant and substantial improvements in prosocial behaviour, emotion regulation, emotion symptoms, peer problems, relational aggression, conduct problems, and hyperactive-impulsive behaviour. Study findings reveal significant changes in children’s social and emotional competencies during preschool. This time may present a unique opportunity to buttress children’s skills and improve long-term school success through the implementation of a rigorous empiricallyvalidated prevention program such as Preschool PATHS.

Country policy profile - Croatia. December 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-12-01

Promotion of renewable energy sources has an important place in the national energy policy of Croatia. The energy policy is set in an Energy Act where a basis for exploitation of renewable energy sources is set. The objectives for 2020 are set in Energy Strategy adopted in 2009. It obliges the Croatia to encourage the future use of RES and to achieve a higher percentage of primary use of RES in the heating sector. The production of electricity from renewable energy sources is promoted through a feed-in tariff and loans. The Croatian Bank for Development and Reconstruction and the Fund for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency operate a loan scheme for RES-E projects. In past renewable energy sources for heating hadn't been promoted by the state so far. Currently, a support scheme for RES heating from biomass is in progress. The main promotion scheme in the field of RES-T is a bio-fuel quota obligation. Additionally, the state provides a subsidy for producers of bio-fuels as well as a tax regulation mechanism to encourage the usage of bio-fuels

LEGAL DRAFTING IN CROATIA - CASE STUDY

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Dario Đerđa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper highlights the importance of legal drafting and its essential elements, which has not drawn a lot of attention in the Republic of Croatia so far. The paper emphasises the importance of proportionality in the simplicity and legal distinctness of a legal text in the process of drafting for the purpose of its clarity. The paper also presents objective requirements necessary for quality legal drafting, as well as subjective qualities of the drafters. With the purpose of drawing attention to imperfections in the legal drafting in Croatia, some defi ciencies are presented in the process of drafting and amending of the Utility Services Act. The process of drafting and amending of this Act is a good example of the way how legal drafting should not be done. It contains a lot of defi ciencies and failures that are the result of legal drafting mistakes. At the end, authors expect that the adoption of the Uniform methodology and nomotechnical rules for the drafting of acts enacted by Parliament should contribute to the higher quality of legal texts and to their full adjustment to the general requirements of legal certainty and rule of law.

Country policy profile - Croatia. February 2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-02-01

Promotion of renewable energy sources has an important place in the national energy policy of Croatia. The energy policy is set in an Energy Act where a basis for exploitation of renewable energy sources is set. The objectives for 2020 are set in Energy Strategy adopted in 2009. It obliges the Croatia to encourage the future use of RES and to achieve a higher percentage of primary use of RES in the heating sector. The production of electricity from renewable energy sources is promoted through a feed-in tariff and loans. The Croatian Bank for Development and Reconstruction and the Fund for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency operate a loan scheme for RES-E projects. In past renewable energy sources for heating hadn't been promoted by the state so far. Currently, a support scheme for RES heating from biomass is in progress. The main promotion scheme in the field of RES-T is a bio-fuel quota obligation. Additionally, the state provides a subsidy for producers of bio-fuels as well as a tax regulation mechanism to encourage the usage of bio-fuels

Country policy profile - Croatia. October 2014

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-10-01

Promotion of renewable energy sources has an important place in the national energy policy of Croatia. The energy policy is set in an Energy Act where a basis for exploitation of renewable energy sources is set. The objectives for 2020 are set in Energy Strategy adopted in 2009. It obliges the Croatia to encourage the future use of RES and to achieve a higher percentage of primary use of RES in the heating sector. The production of electricity from renewable energy sources is promoted through a feed-in tariff and loans. The Croatian Bank for Development and Reconstruction and the Fund for Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency operate a loan scheme for RES-E projects. In past renewable energy sources for heating hadn't been promoted by the state so far. Currently, a support scheme for RES heating from biomass is in progress. The main promotion scheme in the field of RES-T is a bio-fuel quota obligation. Additionally, the state provides a subsidy for producers of bio-fuels as well as a tax regulation mechanism to encourage the usage of bio-fuels

[Are there counterfeit medicines in Croatia?].

Science.gov (United States)

Tomić, Sinisa; Milcić, Neven; Sokolić, Milenko; Sucić, Anita Filipović; Martinac, Adrijana Ilić

2010-01-01

Counterfeit medicines are a growing problem in the world, for their use may endanger patient's health and therefore they pose an enormous public health risk. The manufacture of counterfeit medicines usually involves organised crime groups which place the counterfeit medicines on the market for reasons of profit. Detection and prevention of trade in counterfeit medicines requires close cooperation between medicine regulatory authorities, police, customs, judiciary and pharmaceutical industry. To this day, there have been no recorded cases of counterfeit medicines in the legal supply chain in Croatia. However, medicines without marketing authorisation in Croatia, originating from different countries, could be found on the illegal market. Most frequently, this includes medicines for the treatment of erectile dysfunction such as: sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil. In this study, 26 medicines for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, seized in illegal supply chain, were tested. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for identification and quantification of active substances in the tested samples. It was determined that 13 out of 26 samples did not comply with declared composition of medicine and quality specification. Furthermore, two samples did not contain declared active substance vardenafil and that may indicate that these medicines are counterfeit.

Choice of optimal exchange rate system For the Republic of Croatia

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Dražen Koški

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of research whose results are presented in this article was to choose the optimal system of exchange rate for the Republic of Croatia, of course before its accession to EU. The analyzed exchange rate systems here range from free-floating exchange rate to system without domestic currency in circulation. Naturally, the classification of International Monetary Fond is included in it. After that, the comparison of basic economic advantages and disadvantages of the fixed exchange rate in relation to floating exchange rate were carried out. Although the question is about the extreme systems, disregarding the system without domestic currency in circulation, their comparison makes possible completely satisfactory basis for the right conclusions on the choice of optimal exchange rate system for the Republic of Croatia. Considering its economic particularities, the system of managed-floating exchange rate without proclaimed exchange direction in advance is certainly optimal for the Republic of Croatia. Namely, within the framework of this system the limited floating exchange rates decrease the foreign exchange risk allowing to monetary authorities, at least partly, the independent monetary policy

Proceedings of the Sixth Forum: Energy day in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

The problem of ''Regional Planning as a Part of National Energy Planning'' has been chosen as a subject of the Sixth FORUM, with the aim of giving an impetus to the necessary transfer of certain responsibilities in the planning process, as well as in the process of energy management, to local levels. Transformation procedures in Croatia which help establish the infrastructure of state and local authorities essentially lead to the recognition of tasks on each of the level so that operational activities run as efficiently as possible. It should be emphasised that on global level the energy sector is facing major changes leading to market liberalization and demonopolization. Discussion are being held regarding market range and opportunities, requirements and levels of planning, needs and scope of government and local community measures in achieving increased energy efficiency and utilization of renewable resources, and ultimately in overall energy management. The objective of this FORUM is to start discussions of all the mentioned problems without giving final solutions or removing dilemmas. The only unquestionable issue is that each country will have to find its own manner in transforming the energy sector, in defining the range and mode of planning within the sector, as well as the proportions and active involvement of the state and local community in increasing energy efficiency and environment protection. Experiences and views of our foreign colleagues are certainly going to be of great help in our efforts to review the needs of the Republic of Croatia. (author)

Effects of Fiscal Policy in a Small Open Economy: Evidence of Croatia

OpenAIRE

Deskar-Škrbić, Milan; Šimović, Hrvoje; Ćorić, Tomislav

2013-01-01

In this paper we use structural VAR model to analyze dynamic effects of fiscal shocks on economic activity in Croatia from 2000Q1-2012Q2. Due to the fact that Croatia is a small open economy we assume that shocks of foreign origination can have notable effects on its performance. Therefore, original Blanchard-Perotti (2002) model is extended by introducing variables that represent external (foreign) demand shocks. The results show that the government spending has a positive and statistically ...

The arrival at CERN of the President of the Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Mesic. In the first row, from left to right: Maurice Bourquin, President of CERN Council, Stjepan Mesic, President of the Republic of Croatia and Robert Aymar, Director General of CERN.

CERN Multimedia

Patrice Loiez

2003-01-01

On 11 December, President Stjepan Mesic of the Republic of Croatia visited CERN. He was welcomed by Director General, Robert Aymar, and the President of CERN Council, Maurice Bourquin. Afterwards he met, among others, the Directors of CERN and Croatian scientists working here. He finished his tour by visiting the underground cavern for the ATLAS experiment.

Fiftieth Anniversary of the Cambridge Structural Database and Thirty Years of Its Use in Croatia

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Kojić-Prodić B.

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This article is dedicated to the memory of Dr. F. H. Allen and the 50th anniversary of the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC; the world-renowned centre for deposition and control of crystallographic data including atomic coordinates that define the three-dimensional structures of organic molecules and metal complexes containing organic ligands. The mission exposed at the web site (http://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk is clearly stated: “The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC is dedicated to the advancement of chemistry and crystallography for the public benefit through providing high quality information, software and services.” The Cambridge Structural Database (CSD, one among the first established electronic databases, nowadays is one of the most significant crystallographic databases in the world. In the International Year of Crystallography 2014, the CSD announced in December over 750,000 deposited structures. The use of the extensive and rapidly growing database needs support of sophisticated and efficient software for checking, searching, analysing, and visualising structural data. The seminal role of the CSD in researches related to crystallography, chemistry, materials science, solid state physics and chemistry, (biotechnology, life sciences, and pharmacology is widely known. The important issues of the CCDC are the accuracy of deposited data and development of software for checking the data. Therefore, the Crystallographic Information File (CIF is introduced as the standard text file format for representing crystallographic information. Among the most important software for users is ConQuest, which enables searching all the CSD information fields, and the web implementation WebCSD software. Mercury is available for visualisation of crystal structures and crystal morphology including intra- and intermolecular interactions with graph-set notations of hydrogen bonds, and analysis of geometrical parameters. The CCDC gives even

The state of external equilibrium in Croatia and its long term stability

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Dražen Derado

2002-01-01

Full Text Available From the outset of transition Croatia faces a serious problem of external imbalance as a consequence of unfinished structural and institutional reforms. The external balance crisis can be seen through raising international trade deficit and structural characteristics of trade flows. To these unfavorable characteristics belong export reorientation from developed to less developed countries, increasing number of industries in which Croatia has position of net-importer and export structure in which dominate low-value-added products. Increasing trade deficit in 2001 and 2002 followed by further growth in external indebtedness cause increasing burden of debt service and limit the possibilities for economic growth. Taking all this as well as real limits in further external imbalance growth into consideration it can be said that Croatia realizes high level of external disequilibrium. In contrast, advanced transition countries achieve fairly good and stabile external positions thanks to successful economic restructuring and strong export growth.

INNOVATION IN TOURISM: PERCEPTION OF TOURISM PROVIDERS FROM CROATIA AND SERBIA

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Iva Slivar

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Innovations represent a challenge that every company faces during its life cycle no matter what kind of business sector it operates in. In today’s world of competition and fastgrowing industries, it is paramount to be innovative, especially in tourism. The main aim of this study was to determine how businesses and their employees in two countries - Croatia and Serbia, are directed toward new innovations, which innovations are most important to them, what are the main barriers to implementation and if there is a difference between innovation implementation in those two countries. For this purpose, the study was conducted in 13 tourism companies in Croatia and 20 in Serbia, in the period July-October 2016. The results indicate that companies in Croatia (M=3.86 are more open to innovations than Serbian tourism companies (M=3.50. Furthermore, the study showed that respondents have similar wishes and motives when implementing new ideas or innovations, such as educated workforce, health and well-being of people or improved business management. However, when it comes to key areas for innovation implementation, in Croatia emphasis should be on training and education of the workforce, while in Serbia emphasis should be placed on the introduction of new technologies. In addition, the key limiting factors of innovation implementation that stood out only in Serbia are lack of funds and poor ownership structure. However, there is willingness to implement innovations and readiness to work towards it. Education and a capable workforce are deemed essential to accomplish and implement new innovations in most companies.

Therapeutic apheresis in the Republic of Macedonia - our five years experience (2000-2004).

Science.gov (United States)

Milovanceva-Popovska, M; Stojkovski, Lj; Grcevska, L; Dzikova, S; Ristovska, V; Gogovska, L; Polenakovic, M

2006-07-01

Membrane plasma exchange (PE) is a mode of extracorporeal blood purification. Since 1985 membrane PE has been in regular use at the Department of Nephrology, Medical Faculty of Skopje, R.Macedonia. In this paper we report on five years (2000-2004) of single centre plasma exchange activity. We performed 540 PE treatments (108 PE/per year) on 99 patients. The M/F ratio was 40/48. The patients underwent a median of 5.45 procedures (range, 1-16). The treated patients were from different Departments. Protocols for PE depend on the disease and its severity. PE were performed 2-4 times weekly using Gambro PF 2000 N filters with an adaptation of the Gambro AK10 dialysis machine or with the Gambro Prizma machine (2 cases). Blood access was achieved through femoral vein. Substitution was made with fresh frozen plasma and/or with 20% human albumin combined with Ringer's solution. An average amount of 2150 ml plasmafiltrate per treatment (respectively 30 to 40 ml plasmafiltrate/kg body weight) was eliminated. Most therapeutic procedures were performed on patients from the Department of Neurology. 63.6% of all patients were referred for Myasthenia gravis and the Guillian Barre syndrome. The total number of procedures per year has remained fairly stable, corresponding to a median of 5.4 treatments/100 000 inhabitants. We observed hypocalcaemia in 8% of the patients, urticarial reactions in 7.3%, pruritic reactions in 12%, and hypotension/headache in 6.8%. No major procedural complications were seen.

Five-year change in morale is associated with negative life events in very old age.

Science.gov (United States)

Näsman, Marina; Niklasson, Johan; Saarela, Jan; Nygård, Mikael; Olofsson, Birgitta; Conradsson, Mia; Lövheim, Hugo; Gustafson, Yngve; Nyqvist, Fredrica

2017-10-27

The objectives were to study changes in morale in individuals 85 years and older, and to assess the effect of negative life events on morale over a five-year follow-up period. The present study is based on longitudinal data from the Umeå85+/GERDA-study, including individuals 85 years and older at baseline (n = 204). Morale was measured with the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (PGCMS). Negative life events were assessed using an index including 13 negative life events occurring during the follow-up period. Linear regression was used for the multivariate analyses. The majority of the sample (69.1%) had no significant changes in morale during the five-year follow-up. However, the accumulation of negative life events was significantly associated with a greater decrease in PGCMS. A higher baseline PGCMS score did not attenuate the adverse effect negative life events had on morale. Morale seemed to be mainly stable in a five-year follow-up of very old people. It seems, nonetheless, that individuals are affected by negative life events, regardless of level of morale. Preventing negative life events and supporting individuals who experience multiple negative life events could have important implications for the care of very old people.

Ratio analysis and Piotroski scoring system in the automobile industry in Croatia

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Morana Mesarić

2014-10-01

Full Text Available To gain insight into operational efficiency, sustainable profitability, the ability to fulfil commitments, use of funds borrowed or investment risk or operational self-sufficiency, it is necessary to conduct analyses of financial statements usually known as ratio analysis. The paper provides analyses of five Croatian general distributors of the automobile industry. Ratios used in the analyses are those used in the Piotroski f-scoring analyses, which are famous for assessing financial capacities of enterprises on the stock exchange market. Based on ratios used in Piotroski scoring systems the assessment of five enterprises, as well as the sector as a whole was carried out. The analysis covers the period 2007-2012. That is the period of the rise, falling and recovery of the automotive industry throughout the world as well as the rise, falling and recession of the whole economy including the automobile market. In general, the sector itself is financially unstable and consequently risk exposed. Results are used for preliminary analyses and prediction of the future financial strength of the auto industry in Croatia.

31 CFR 585.524 - Humanitarian aid and trade in United Nations Protected Areas of Croatia and those areas of the...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Nations Protected Areas of Croatia and those areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by... Humanitarian aid and trade in United Nations Protected Areas of Croatia and those areas of the Republic of... in the Republic of Croatia and those areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the...

State of logistics - a five-year review

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ittmann, HW

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The state of logistics survey makes it possible to analyse and show trends over the past five years. This relates to quantitative and qualitative logistics issues that were not possible when this survey started in 2004. The paper will show...

Modelling tourist consumption to achieve economic growth and external balance: case of Croatia

OpenAIRE

Jelušić, Adriana

2017-01-01

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to develop a model able to explain international tourist expenditures (inflows) in Croatia, and domestic tourist expenditures (outflows) abroad. Design – The present study is based on the research of international tourism demand, aimed at describing the behavior of international expenditures concepts applied to the case of Croatia. Methodology –The proposed model is a multiple linear regression model. Findings – The modelling procedure with all ...

Secular trend of menarche in Zagreb (Croatia) adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Veček, Nenad; Veček, Andrea; Zajc Petranović, Matea; Tomas, Zeljka; Arch-Veček, Branka; Skarić-Jurić, Tatjana; Miličić, Jasna

2012-01-01

To study the secular trend of menarche in high-school urban adolescent girls (Zagreb, Croatia) over the last two decades, and to evaluate the possible impact of worsening of socio-economic conditions on age at menarche during the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995). Three surveys of female adolescents aged 15-19 years: (a) 523 girls interviewed in 1990, (b) 888 girls interviewed in 1997, and (c) 399 girls interviewed in 2010. Self-reported age at menarche (in decimal years) was presented by age groups and year of interview. Differences in mean age at menarche between adolescent age groups as well as between surveys were tested using One-way ANOVA. The mean age at menarche was 12.82 years in 1990, 12.92 years in 1997 and 12.31 years in 2010. It increased by 0.10 years from 1990 to 1997 (p=0.290) and then declined by 0.61 years from 1997 to 2010 (pZagreb adolescents continued to decline significantly from 1990 to 2010 (p<0.001), in spite of a statistically insignificant initial increase between 1990 and 1997. When put in broader context, age at menarche mirrored socio-economic changes in the war period. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Battle of Vukovar: The Battle That Saved Croatia

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Sebetovsky, Mario

2002-01-01

The key battle in the Croatian Homeland War that led to Croatia independence was the Battle of Vukovar Despite its importance very little has been written about this battle from a professional military perspective...

Understanding of Democracy among Young People in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir Vujčić

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The task of this paper was to explore how young people understand the values of democracy, how much they believe in democracy as a political system, how much they are satisfi ed with the way democracy works (“constitution at work”, and how much they trust government institutions. It is important to analyse the understanding of democracy, for democracy is dependent on the citizens’ opinions and the level of their political culture rather than on its normative constitution and formal value system. Thus, this analysis joins in the debate between foundationalists and antifoundationalists on democracy and its functioning. The present model of research has provided insights into the relationship between so-called diff use and specifi c support of democracy (D. Easton and an explanation of that which R. Dahl defi nes as the “democratic paradox” in contemporary democracies. This scrutiny shows that young people in Croatia understand democracy within the framework of liberal values, but also that they largely tend towards so-called consensual democracy and a socialist syndrome involving a prevalent aspiration to social equality and an economically interventionist state. Moreover, the analysis shows that young people in Croatia have a low level of democratic legitimation and an even lower level of trust in government institutions. This is not a good basis for the development of stable and well-functioning democracy in Croatian society. It all warns against serious shortcomings in the political education of young people in Croatia and in the development of democratic political culture and democratic citizenship.

Box Tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis, Lepidoptera; Crambidae), New Invasive Insect Pest in Croatia

OpenAIRE

Matošević, Dinka

2013-01-01

Background and Purpose: Alien invasive species have been described as an outstanding global problem. Hundreds of species are intentionally and unintentionally moved worldwide and and numbers of introductions to new habitats have been accelerated all over the world due to the increasing mobility of people and goods over the past decades. Numerous alien insect species, many of them introduced only in the last 20 years, have become successfully established in various ecosystems in Croatia. Box t...

Legislation for radiation protection and nuclear safety in the Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novosel, N.

1994-01-01

The main prerequisite of radiation protection and nuclear safety development and improvement in the Republic of Croatia are: national legislation for radiation protection and nuclear safety in accordance with international recommendations; and development of state infrastructure for organization and management of radiation protection and nuclear safety measures. In this paper I the following topics are present: inherited legislation for radiation protection and nuclear safety; modern trends in world nowadays; and what is done and has to be done in the Republic of Croatia to improve this situation

Preliminary Estimation of Kappa Parameter in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Stanko, Davor; Markušić, Snježana; Ivančić, Ines; Mario, Gazdek; Gülerce, Zeynep

2017-12-01

Spectral parameter kappa κ is used to describe spectral amplitude decay “crash syndrome” at high frequencies. The purpose of this research is to estimate spectral parameter kappa for the first time in Croatia based on small and moderate earthquakes. Recordings of local earthquakes with magnitudes higher than 3, epicentre distances less than 150 km, and focal depths less than 30 km from seismological stations in Croatia are used. The value of kappa was estimated from the acceleration amplitude spectrum of shear waves from the slope of the high-frequency part where the spectrum starts to decay rapidly to a noise floor. Kappa models as a function of a site and distance were derived from a standard linear regression of kappa-distance dependence. Site kappa was determined from the extrapolation of the regression line to a zero distance. The preliminary results of site kappa across Croatia are promising. In this research, these results are compared with local site condition parameters for each station, e.g. shear wave velocity in the upper 30 m from geophysical measurements and with existing global shear wave velocity - site kappa values. Spatial distribution of individual kappa’s is compared with the azimuthal distribution of earthquake epicentres. These results are significant for a couple of reasons: to extend the knowledge of the attenuation of near-surface crust layers of the Dinarides and to provide additional information on the local earthquake parameters for updating seismic hazard maps of studied area. Site kappa can be used in the re-creation, and re-calibration of attenuation of peak horizontal and/or vertical acceleration in the Dinarides area since information on the local site conditions were not included in the previous studies.

Power generation in the 12-th five-year plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Troitskij, A.A.

1986-01-01

The state of electric power generation in the 11-th five-year plan is summed up. Perspectives of development of heat and electric power generation in the 12-th five-year plan are considered. Thermal power generation of NPPs in 1990 will increase by a factor of 8.4 as compared with 1975. The NPP development will be mainly realized on the basis of the WWER-1000 type reactors. It is planned to commission fast reactors of up to 800 MW

A longitudinal study of women’s memories of their childbirth experiences at five years postpartum

OpenAIRE

Takehara, Kenji; Noguchi, Makiko; Shimane, Takuya; Misago, Chizuru

2014-01-01

Background Few studies have investigated whether women can accurately recall their birthing experiences after a long period. We investigated the consistency of women’s memories of their childbirth experiences between those at a few days postpartum and 5 years later. Methods This prospective cohort study comprised 1,168 women who delivered at a maternity hospital and four maternity homes in Japan between May 2002 and August 2003. Data were collected using structured interviews and transcriptio...

Constructing Poverty Lines in Croatia Using Kakwani’s Model

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Marinko Škare

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new model for defining the poverty line as a possible candidate for the construction of a new official poverty line in Croatia. The model, based on Kakwani’s (2010 approach (nutrition-based anchor, uses consumer theory as the basis for defining food and non-food poverty lines. In Croatia, various alternative poverty indicators have been developed to define the official poverty line. To ensure international comparability and consistency, the poverty threshold expressed in local currency by applying the exchange rate of currencies’ purchasing power (PPP is expressed in international dollars. It is important to ensure implementation of redistributive policies, maximization of market efficiency, and increased social justice. All this policy goals and instruments heavily depend on efficient and precise poverty measurement methods.

Financial Integration and Financial Crisis: Croatia Approaching the EMU

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Dražen Derado

2009-09-01

Full Text Available The breakdown of command economies has significantly increased growth potentials all over Europe and opened up prospects for economic development. Encouraged by that, the EU embarked on the process of deeper economic integration. Its main aspects – economic liberalization and monetary integration – coincided with the worldwide globalization of trade and capital flows. As a laggard country in the process of economic integration, Croatia is in a particularly difficult position – besides soaring trade deficit, it is highly indebted and strongly dependant upon foreign capital. Appreciating theoretical inferences and empirical evidence on monetary integration, while taking reference to the realized level of international financial integration and external vulnerability, the aim of the paper is to find out if Croatia fulfils the criteria for successful monetary integration.

Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis: Causes, Fiscal Adjustment Programs and Lessons for Croatia

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Mislav Brkić

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the factors that have led to the Greek sovereign debt crisis in order to derive policy lessons for Croatia and other highly indebted countries. In the first years after euro adoption, it seemed that membership in the monetary union facilitated a catching-up process for Greece, given that it enjoyed high growth rates and a rapid convergence of per capita income. However, the global crisis has revealed that the previous economic expansion was an unsustainable process based on excessive inflow of debt-creating foreign capital. In this paper, it is argued that the government sector contributed the most to the rising vulnerability of the Greek economy. Data are presented showing that extensive government borrowing was the main factor behind the rapid accumulation of Greece's external debt, which made it highly vulnerable to external shocks. Besides the procyclical fiscal policy, some other factors also contributed to the overheating of economic activity in Greece. Hence, this paper reviews the literature that deals with the compression of peripheral countries' sovereign bond yields after the creation of the monetary union, the doubtful suitability of the ECB's expansionary policy stance from the perspective of then booming peripheral states, and the institutional shortcomings of the EMU. The main motivation of this paper is to identify the key roots of the Greek debt crisis in order to derive lessons for policy-makers in Croatia. Since the beginning of the recession in 2008, Croatia has seen a significant deterioration in fiscal fundamentals, with high public debt becoming the main source of macroeconomic vulnerability. Reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio has emerged as a key policy challenge that needs to be addressed in order to reduce the likelihood of a debt crisis.

Management of gestational trophoblastic tumours: a five-year clinical experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rauf, B.; Hassan, L.; Ahmed, S.

2004-01-01

Objective: An analysis of a 5-year clinical experience in the management of gestational trophobIastic tumours in a tertiary care hospital. Patients and Methods: A total of 30 cases were managed and a detailed analysis of these patients were done. Of these 13 followed Hydatidiform Mole, 10 after abortion and 7 after a term pregnancy. Results: Out of 30 cases of gestational trophobIastic tumour, 63.3% were between 21 and 38 years of age. Ninety percent of the patients presented with vaginal bleeding, while life-threatening hemorrhage occurred in 23.3% of the cases. 43.3% of the patients had hydatidiform mole as an antecedent pregnancy and 36.7% of the patients presented within four months of the antecedent pregnancy. Blood groups O and B were most frequently encountered i.e. in 40% and 33.3% of the cases. Metastatic disease was present in 46.6% of the cases, of which 8 were high risk and one was of medium risk group. Major sites of metastasis were lungs (33.3%) and vagina (30%). Serum BHCG of 40,000 miu/ml and above was present in 53.3% of the cases (P=0.016) and number of metastasis >8 were found in 16.7% cases (P=0.001). Prior chemotherapy was given in only 2 patients and both of them died due to resistance. Chemotherapy was given to 100% of patients; survival was 100% in low-risk group and 50% in high-risk group (P=0.004). Overall mortality was 20% i.e. 6 patients died of the disease. Major side effects of chemotherapy were stomatitis (66.6%), alopecia (56.6%), low hemoglobin (60%), weight loss and recurrent infection. Conclusion: Late diagnosis, previously failed chemotherapy and high WHO prognostic scores are major risk factors affecting outcome in these patients. Hence every female in reproductive age group with unexplained bleeding per vaginum should be investigated with serum BHCG (Beta human chorionic gonadotrophin). (author)

Relations Between Transport and Tourism- Croatia's Possibilities

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Marinko Jurčević

2006-09-01

Full Text Available Relations between tourism and transport industries are importantfor the entire Croatian economy and are expected togrow in the future. The most important thing from the aspect oftransport is definitely the infrastructure of all branches of transport(primarily road traffic, followed by the development ofship and ferry lines, both along the Adriatic coast and betweenthe islands. The construction of transport access and infrastructureof our tourist destinations, as well as transport linksbetween them, is crucial for the development of tourism. Morethan 70 per cent of foreign tourists and 70 per cent of touristboats (up to 7 m come to Croatia by roads. They all expecttransport infrastructure on a European level, providing fast,safe and comfortable transport from their homes to tourist destinations.Therefore, our transport lines and their quality, roadfeatures, traffic capability and equipment are what the developmentof our tourism depends on, especially in central andsouthern Adriatic, considering the wider economic goals ofCroatia and the growing interest of the European Union in ourcountry, its economy and tourism.

Nuclear knowledge and information management in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pleslic, S.; Novosel, N.

2004-01-01

Since the IAEA was authorized for exchange of technical and scientific information on peaceful uses of atomic energy, it established INIS in 1970 as an international bibliographic database in nuclear field and in nuclear related areas. All Member States, which are at different levels of technological development, could derive benefits from INIS output products and get the support from the IAEA in systematic knowledge preservation and information exchange. Intention is the transferring of practical experience to the younger generation and the archiving of important information. Croatia is successfully involved in activities in knowledge and information management from 1994 when joined INIS. Accumulation of knowledge including technical information in databases and documents, and knowledge of scientists, engineers, researchers and technicians is base for the use of nuclear technology. Nuclear knowledge and information exchange are important for process of decision-making. Thanks to development and application of new information technologies within INIS information management framework, Members improve the collection, production and dissemination of nuclear knowledge and information. (author)

Serbs in political and military elites of the Ustaše's Independent State of Croatia

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Atlagić Marko P.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The phenomenon of Serbian participation in the political and military elites and leadership of the Independent State of Croatia was not enough or rather not at all scientifically analysed and researched. The purpose of this paper is to inspire the historians of our recent past to research and critically evaluate the problems. In the beginning of the war during the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia, the Serbs were not involved in the Home Guard units as regular armed forces of Independent State of Croatia. Along with the development of the Independent Ustaš State of Croatia, the necessity for Serbian participation in Home Guard units arose. The Serbs were mainly educated in Austro-Hungarian schools for officers. They also participated in the armed forces of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes i.e. the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The most prominent among them were: Dr Savo Besarović, general Teodor Dragojlov, general Đuro Dragičević, general Đuro Grujić, a knight, general Milan Desović, general Mihailo Lukić, general Dušan Palčić, general Miroslav Opačić (Fridrich, a church official Zvonimir Stimaković, general Miloš Obrknežević, Minister without portfolio Ljubomir Antić, general Lalislav Milić, general Milan Uzelac and others. Apart from being the most prominent ones in the Home Guard units, there were Serbs in the political elites of the Independent State of Croatia, as well as in the Presidency of the Parliament and in the positions of the Ministers in the Independent State of Croatia. This phenomenon should be an example for future generations, in a case of war, not to happen that one part of the people takes the enemy side because the greatest sin ever is to betray its own people and country.

Microsatellite based genetic structure of regional transboundary Istrian sheep breed populations in Croatia and Slovenia

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Beatriz Gutierrez-Gil

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Istrian dairy sheep is a local breed essential for the identity and development of the Northern- Adriatic karstic region through high-quality products, primarily the hard sheep artisanal cheese. Border changes fragmented the initial Istrian dairy sheep population in three genetically isolated sub-populations in Italy (1000 animals, Slovenia (1150 animals and Croatia (2500 animals. Due to the drastic reduction of their population sizes and fragmentation, the populations in Croatia and Slovenia are included in governmentally supported conservation programs. The initial subpopulation in Italy was restored after near extinction with stock from Slovenia, and is used today in meat production. The aim of this study was to provide an initial understanding of the current genetic structure and distribution of the genetic variability that exists in Istrian sheep by analysing individuals sampled in two regional groups of Istrian sheep from Croatia and Slovenia. Cres island sheep and Lika pramenka sheep were used as out-groups for comparison. Genetic differentiation was analysed using factorial correspondence analysis and structure clustering over 26 microsatellite loci for a total of 104 sheep belonging to three breeds from Croatia and Slovenia. Factorial correspondence analysis and clustering-based structure analysis both showed three distinct populations: Lika pramenka sheep, Cres island sheep and Istrian sheep. We did not find a marked genetic divergence of the regional groups of Istrian sheep. Istrian sheep regional group from Slovenia showed lower genetic variability compared to the one from Croatia. Variability and structure information obtained in this study considered alongside with socio-cultural-contexts and economic goals for the Istrian sheep reared in Croatia and Slovenia indicate that the cross-border exchange of genetic material of animals carrying private alleles among populations would maintain these alleles at low frequencies and minimize

Communication of 28 February 1995 from the Permanent Mission of Croatia to the International Atomic Energy Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

The Director General has received a note verbale of 28 February 1995 from the Permanent Mission of Croatia to the International Atomic Energy Agency providing information on the nuclear export policies and practices of the Government of Croatia

Optimal Conformal Polynomial Projections for Croatia According to the Airy/Jordan Criterion

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Dražen Tutić

2009-05-01

Full Text Available The paper describes optimal conformal polynomial projections for Croatia according to the Airy/Jordan criterion. A brief introduction of history and theory of conformal mapping is followed by descriptions of conformal polynomial projections and their current application. The paper considers polynomials of degrees 1 to 10. Since there are conditions in which the 1st degree polynomial becomes the famous Mercator projection, it was not considered specifically for Croatian territory. The area of Croatia was defined as a union of national territory and the continental shelf. Area definition data were taken from the Euro Global Map 1:1 000 000 for Croatia, as well as from two maritime delimitation treaties. Such an irregular area was approximated with a regular grid consisting of 11 934 ellipsoidal trapezoids 2' large. The Airy/Jordan criterion for the optimal projection is defined as minimum of weighted mean of Airy/Jordan measure of distortion in points. The value of the Airy/Jordan criterion is calculated from all 11 934 centres of ellipsoidal trapezoids, while the weights are equal to areas of corresponding ellipsoidal trapezoids. The minimum is obtained by Nelder and Mead’s method, as implemented in the fminsearch function of the MATLAB package. Maps of Croatia representing the distribution of distortions are given for polynomial degrees 2 to 6 and 10. Increasing the polynomial degree results in better projections considering the criterion, and the 6th degree polynomial provides a good ratio of formula complexity and criterion value.

Remotely Operated Vehicles under sea ice - Experiences and results from five years of polar operations

Science.gov (United States)

Katlein, Christian; Arndt, Stefanie; Lange, Benjamin; Belter, Hans Jakob; Schiller, Martin; Nicolaus, Marcel

2016-04-01

The availability of advanced robotic technologies to the Earth Science community has largely increased in the last decade. Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) enable spatially extensive scientific investigations underneath the sea ice of the polar oceans, covering a larger range and longer diving times than divers with significantly lower risks. Here we present our experiences and scientific results acquired from ROV operations during the last five years in the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice region. Working under the sea ice means to have all obstacles and investigated objects above the vehicle, and thus changes several paradigms of ROV operations as compared to blue water applications. Observations of downwelling spectral irradiance and radiance allow a characterization of the optical properties of sea ice and the spatial variability of the energy partitioning across the atmosphere-ice-ocean boundary. Our results show that the decreasing thickness and age of the sea ice have led to a significant increase in light transmission during summer over the last three decades. Spatially extensive measurements from ROV surveys generally provide more information on the light field variability than single spot measurements. The large number of sampled ice conditions during five cruises with the German research icebreaker RV Polarstern allows for the investigations of the seasonal evolution of light transmittance. Both, measurements of hyperspectral light transmittance through sea ice, as well as classification of upward-looking camera images were used to investigate the spatial distribution of ice-algal biomass. Buoyant ice-algal aggregates were found to be positioned in the stretches of level ice, rather than pressure ridges due to a physical interaction of aggregate-buoyancy and under-ice currents. Synchronous measurements of sea ice thickness by upward looking sonar provides crucial additional information to put light-transmittance and biological observations into context

95th Anniversary of Pathophysiology in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kovač, Zdenko

2017-12-01

University level of Pathophysiology research and teaching in Croatia had started with the third year of Medical School of Zagreb in academic year 1919./20. Ever since, despite historical changes of the main university stake holder, the state of Croatia, Department of Pathophysiology development progressed and has made visible academic achievements, with a broader effect in medical community. The first 95 years of academic tradition and major achievements are shortly described in this paper. Professor Miroslav Mikuličić envisioned Pathophysiology in close relations with Pharmacology and made the pioneering steps of establishing the "double" department at Šalata. His group was academically very pro-active, with strong international scientific participation and recruitment of professionals. The group published the first voluminous textbook of Pharmacology and Pathophysiology, in Croatian. In fifties, professor Pavao Sokolić established clinical pathophysiology within the Hospital Centre at Rebro. Out of "double" department two new departments were founded, the Pathophysiology one was completed with the clinical ward. That institutional move from Šalata hill to the Rebro hill was a necessary gigantic step and a prerequisite for the proper further development. It was in accordance with the concept of the Mikuličić's program of Pathophysiology from 1917. Pavao Sokolić has been remembered for his visions, deep insights into etiopathogenesis, ability to transfer knowledge and friendly relations to students. Sharp intellectual power, emanating charisma, academic erudition and unique clinical competencies made the legendary image of the "Teacher" - as students used to refer to him with admiration. He was second to no one when complex patient issues were to be resolved. Clinical Hospital Centre Zagreb and his Department at Rebro have become a referral point to whom to go to despair. Students recognized in their Teacher the landmark of Croatian medicine, which made a

Investigations of 90Sr Activity Concentrations in Animal Bones in Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maracic, M.; Franic, Z.; Marovic, G.

2008-01-01

The paper presents investigations of 90Sr activity concentrations in long bones of some domestic animals (cows, pigs, lambs) collected over the last ten years in the Republic of Croatia. The investigations are a part of an extended and still ongoing monitoring programme of radioactive contamination of human environment of Croatia. Bone is critical organ for the accumulation of many radionuclides, including 90Sr, a highly toxic radionuclide, similar to calcium in its chemical behaviour and metabolic processes. It has been found that the 90Sr activity concentrations in bones differ between respective animal species, the highest activity concentrations being found in lamb bones in year 2005 (472.61 mBqgCa -1 or 2.14 Bqkg -1 ). In cow bones highest value being found was in 1998, being 611.42 mBqgCa -1 or 69.09 Bqkg -1 90Sr. The transient increases and decreases in 90Sr activity concentrations in bones can be partially explained by a variety of environmental physical and biochemical factors that naturally fluctuate. As the levels of stable strontium in bone tissue is strongly correlated to calcium content of bone, 90Sr can be used as efficient radiotracer of stable strontium, which is itself important since it positively affects bone metabolism promoting bone formation and decreasing bone resorption, leading to normalized bone density.(author)

The Role of Interconnecting Transmission Network in Energy Market Environment in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radmilovic, B.

2001-01-01

For energy market liberalisation in a small country like Croatia, it is necessary to build strong interconnecting lines to neighbouring systems. In that way it is possible to get power under favourable market conditions and also to export domestic production (especially from hydro power plants) to external markets. Geographical position of Croatia in Europe (East West, North South) is very interesting under liberalised energy market conditions. In that sense, the possibilities and role of Croatian transmission network (400 and 220 kV) for possible transits and other country needs should be analysed. (author)

Prevalence of salmonella in captive reptiles from Croatia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lukac, Maja; Pedersen, Karl; Prukner-Radovcic, Estella

2015-01-01

from 200 apparently healthy reptiles were tested for Salmonella excretions by bacteriologic culture and serotyping. These 200 individual reptiles included 31 lizards, 79 chelonians, and 90 snakes belonging to private owners or housed at the Zagreb Zoo, Croatia. Salmonella was detected in a total of 13...

Nuclear Liability Legislation in the Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sladonja, B.

1998-01-01

This paper contains a basic data about the legislation referring to third party liability for nuclear damage in Croatia. It also, gives some drafting provisions in the Croatian Nuclear Liability Act, but only those which implements a substantial changes compared to the Act currently in force. (author)

Assessment of the Balassa-Samuelson Effect in Croatia

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Igor Ljubaj

2007-12-01

Full Text Available The main objective of this paper is to assess the importance of the Balassa-Samuelson effect in Croatia and to quantify its influence on inflation and the real exchange rate.The productivity growth differential between tradable and ontradable sectors within a given country compared to abroad has recently often been used to explain the real appreciation of Central and East European (CEE transition countries’ currencies against euro, and also to explain the inflation differential between the aforementioned countries and the euro area. Since all new EU member states are obligated to introduce the euro as the national currency, the Balassa-Samuelson effect associated with real convergence could impede nominal convergence and fulfilment of the necessary Maastricht criteria. The main conclusion of this paper is that in the period from 1998:Q1 to 2006:Q3 the Balassa-Samuelson effect in Croatia was not statistically significant, so it should not constitute a barrier to meeting convergence criteria.

All at Sea: Sustaining livelihoods through maritime tourism in Croatia

African Journals Online (AJOL)

African Journal for Physical Activity and Health Sciences ... human capital, physical and social aspect, and natural capital) have proved to ... Keywords: Sustainable livelihoods, maritime tourism, seafaring community, entrepreneurship, Croatia.

The Five-Year Resume: A Career Planning Exercise

Science.gov (United States)

Laker, Dennis R.; Laker, Ruth

2007-01-01

For most college students, lack of career planning wastes time and resources and may result in years of "career drift." Lack of planning can also lead to deception once students begin seeking career-related employment. Faced with a competitive job market, some students inflate and exaggerate their resumes. The five-year resume exercise helps…

Childhood vaccine refusal and hesitancy intentions in Croatia: insights from a population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Repalust, Anja; Šević, Sandra; Rihtar, Stanko; Štulhofer, Aleksandar

2017-10-01

Considering that programmatic data suggest a recent rise in vaccine refusal in Croatia, this study, first of its kind in Southeast Europe, aimed to estimate the prevalence, and sociodemographic, and sociocultural determinants of childhood vaccine refusal and hesitancy (CVRH) intentions among Croatian adults. Multi-stage stratified population-based survey included 1000 individuals aged 18-88 years (M age  = 47.7, SD = 17.8), of whom 51.7% were women. The outcome, a categorical indicator, distinguished among individuals who would approve vaccinating their children (vaccine accepting), those who would approve some but not all vaccines (vaccine hesitant), and those who would refuse vaccination (vaccine refusing). A sizeable minority of participants was characterized by childhood vaccine refusal (10.6%) and hesitancy intentions (19.5%). In a multivariate assessment controlling for parenthood, the odds of vaccine hesitancy were significantly increased by a younger age (AOR = 1.96-3.03, p Croatia. Following the social contagion model, future research should move beyond individual-level approach and take into account social interaction and social network effects.

The Influence of Foreign Direct Investments on Regional Development in Croatia

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Ines Kersan-Škabić

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the influence of foreign direct investments (FDI on regional development in Croatia and to contribute to previous studies that deal with regional FDI re-allocations. Our analysis was conducted at the NUTS 3 level (21 Croatian counties and applied panel data analysis to determine the influence of FDI as well as other factors that proved to be significant in regional development in Croatia. The results point out that investment (i.e., both domestic and foreign direct investments, labor productivity, and export have a positive and significant influence on regional development, while absorptive capacity has a negative influence. It is therefore important to strengthen the absorptive capacity of Croatian regions to create a favorable investment environment and to provide good preconditions for the development of other factors of regional development. Findings are relevant for policy-makers who should take more proactive roles in attracting FDI as a way of strengthening regional development in Croatia. This may help policy-makers to act locally to achieve cohesion, but it can also be important for foreign investors that observe regional FDI determinants in the European Union.

Milk yield of some goat breeds in Croatia

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Boro Mioč

2007-04-01

Full Text Available In Croatia, goats are primarily bred for meat production. However, for the past twenty years the interest in goat milk production was based on imported breeds such as Alpine-French, Saanen and German Improved Fawn goat. The purpose of this paper is to establish litter size of the principal goat breeds in Croatia and the indicators related to milk yield and chemical composition. The largest average litter size has been determined on the German Improved Fawn (1.72, then with the Boer (1.54, the Saanen (1.53 and the Croatian coloured goat (1.51, while the Alpine-French goat was the smallest (1.31. The longest lactation period (259 days has been determined on the Alpine-French goat, while the largest milk yield during lactation (724.4 kg and the largest milk fat yield (20.16 kg and protein yield (18.64 kg have been determined on the Saanen goat. However, it has been established that the Alpine-French goat milk has the highest average fat content (3.55 %, while the German Improved Fawn’s milk has the highest protein content (3.23 %. The Saanen goat had the longest milking period (222 days and the shortest suckling period (32 days, while the Alpine-French and the German Improved Fawn had the longest suckling period (51 and 45 days, respectively. The lowest quantity of milk during the suckling period (102.97 kg, i.e. 14 % was suckled by Saanen kids, while the Alpine-French (122.08 kg, i.e. 22 % and the German Improved Fawn kids suckled the greatest quantity (116.31 kg, i.e. 22 %.

Developing Model for Supply Chain Management - the Case of Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Jurun

2004-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a model of supply chain management (SCM. It explains overall supply chain issues, strategic importance of SCM, supply chain strategies and an example of mathematical formulation. A supply chain is a global network of organizations that cooperate to improve the flows of material and information between suppliers and customers at the lowest cost and the highest speed. The objective of a supply chain is customer satisfaction. At the strategic level, a supply chain can be considered as being composed of five activities: buy, make, move, store and sell. Each activity is a module. The set of modules, along with its links, constitutes a model of the supply chain. Our paper presents some insights into the supply chain strategies of companies in Croatia. The major goal of this paper is to show a model for supply chain management in mathematical terms, with an example of mathematical formulation.

The five year report of the Tunnel Sealing Experiment: an international project of AECL, JNC, ANDRA and WIPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chandler, N.A.; Cournut, A.; Dixon, D.

2002-01-01

The Tunnel Sealing Experiment (TSX) was conducted to address construction and performance issues of full-scale seals for potential application to deep geological repositories for radioactive waste. The TSX was performed by an international partnership representing Japan, France, the United States and Canada. The experiment was installed at the 420-m depth of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's Underground Research Laboratory in the granite rock of the Precambrian Canadian Shield. The experiment involved the construction of two full-scale tunnel seals at either end of a single excavation. One seal was an assembly of pre-compacted sand-bentonite blocks and the second seal was a single cast of Low-Heat High-Performance concrete. The objective of the TSX was to assess the applicability of technologies for construction of practicable concrete and bentonite bulkheads; to evaluate the performance of each bulkhead; and to identify and document the parameters that affect that performance. This report documents the construction and operation of the experiment over its first five years. During this period, the experiment was designed, tunnels were excavated, and the seals were constructed. The sand-filled region between the two bulkhead seals was filled and pressurized with water to 800 and 2000 kPa. A tracer test was conducted at a tunnel pressure of 800 kPa to assess the solute transport characteristics of full-scale tunnel seals. The most important outcome from the TSX is that functional full-scale repository seals can be constructed using currently available technology. Factors identified as potentially affecting seal performance included: excavation method and minimizing the excavation damaged zone (EDZ); keying bulkheads into the rock to interrupt the EDZ; compacted sand-bentonite placement method; treatment of clay bulkhead-rock interface; rate of clay saturation compared with the rate of water pressurization; clay bulkhead volume expansion; the resealing properties of

The five year report of the Tunnel Sealing Experiment: an international project of AECL, JNC, ANDRA and WIPP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chandler, N A; Cournut, A; Dixon, D [and others

2002-07-01

The Tunnel Sealing Experiment (TSX) was conducted to address construction and performance issues of full-scale seals for potential application to deep geological repositories for radioactive waste. The TSX was performed by an international partnership representing Japan, France, the United States and Canada. The experiment was installed at the 420-m depth of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's Underground Research Laboratory in the granite rock of the Precambrian Canadian Shield. The experiment involved the construction of two full-scale tunnel seals at either end of a single excavation. One seal was an assembly of pre-compacted sand-bentonite blocks and the second seal was a single cast of Low-Heat High-Performance concrete. The objective of the TSX was to assess the applicability of technologies for construction of practicable concrete and bentonite bulkheads; to evaluate the performance of each bulkhead; and to identify and document the parameters that affect that performance. This report documents the construction and operation of the experiment over its first five years. During this period, the experiment was designed, tunnels were excavated, and the seals were constructed. The sand-filled region between the two bulkhead seals was filled and pressurized with water to 800 and 2000 kPa. A tracer test was conducted at a tunnel pressure of 800 kPa to assess the solute transport characteristics of full-scale tunnel seals. The most important outcome from the TSX is that functional full-scale repository seals can be constructed using currently available technology. Factors identified as potentially affecting seal performance included: excavation method and minimizing the excavation damaged zone (EDZ); keying bulkheads into the rock to interrupt the EDZ; compacted sand-bentonite placement method; treatment of clay bulkhead-rock interface; rate of clay saturation compared with the rate of water pressurization; clay bulkhead volume expansion; the resealing properties of

Emergency response activities and collecting damaged radiation devices from a war affected area in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Subasic, Damir; Schaller, Antum

1997-01-01

A number of various devices containing ionizing radiation sources were in use in the area affected by the recent war in Croatia. In destruction caused by the war operations, a number of these devices were damaged, destroyed or even missed/lost. The actions undertaken to (re)collect these radiation sources, experience gained and lessons learned are reviewed. The importance of a well-organized national regulatory system is highlighted as a precondition for the efficient identification and safe collection of radiation sources which were under ruins. Experience from this event could be well applicable to similar situations caused by disasters and particularly for regulatory authorities who design emergency preparedness plans. (author)

Informed consent in Croatia. A work in progress.

Science.gov (United States)

Vučemilo, Luka; Borovečki, Ana

2014-07-01

As Croatia makes the transition from one political system and type of economy to another, there are inevitable social and political changes that have a profound affect on the healthcare system. This article charts some of the progress of change with respect to patients' rights and informed consent.

The Politics of the Budgetary Process: The Case of Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vjekoslav Bratić

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The budget is a mechanism of governing a state that has a very important role for any economy as well as for the inhabitants of each country. The budget is the outcome of the budgetary process. With its development, many budgetary functions have been developed. These functions best describe what the budget and its purpose are. The budgetary process, which is extremely complex and consists of many phases, is a serious economic and political activity in all modern countries. In each phase various factors play important roles. This topic has seldom been researched in Croatia and therefore the paper offers an overview of previous research devoted to the politics of the budgetary process in the world, particularly describing the budgetary process in Croatia.

Depression and anxiety in women with early breast cancer: five year observational cohort study

Science.gov (United States)

Burgess, Caroline; Cornelius, Victoria; Love, Sharon; Graham, Jill; Richards, Michael; Ramirez, Amanda

2005-01-01

Objective To examine the prevalence of, and risk factors for, depression and anxiety in women with early breast cancer in the five years after diagnosis. Design Observational cohort study. Setting NHS breast clinic, London. Participants 222 women with early breast cancer: 170 (77%) provided complete interview data up to either five years after diagnosis or recurrence. Main outcome measures Prevalence of clinically important depression and anxiety (structured psychiatric interview with standardised diagnostic criteria) and clinical and patient risk factors, including stressful life experiences (Bedford College life events and difficulties schedule). Results Nearly 50% of the women with early breast cancer had depression, anxiety, or both in the year after diagnosis, 25% in the second, third, and fourth years, and 15% in the fifth year. Point prevalence was 33% at diagnosis, falling to 15% after one year. 45% of those with recurrence experienced depression, anxiety, or both within three months of the diagnosis. Previous psychological treatment predicted depression, anxiety, or both in the period around diagnosis (one month before diagnosis to four months after diagnosis). Longer term depression and anxiety, were associated with previous psychological treatment, lack of an intimate confiding relationship, younger age, and severely stressful non-cancer life experiences. Clinical factors were not associated with depression and anxiety, at any time. Lack of intimate confiding support also predicted more protracted episodes of depression and anxiety. Conclusion Increased levels of depression, anxiety, or both in the first year after a diagnosis of early breast cancer highlight the need for dedicated service provision during this time. Psychological interventions for women with breast cancer who remain disease free should take account of the broader social context in which the cancer occurs, with a focus on improving social support. PMID:15695497

Forecasting ozone concentrations in the east of Croatia using ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

for urban and another one for rural area in the eastern part of Croatia. ... 2010). Apart from the negative impact on respiratory system, atmo- ..... Figure 3. Daily average ozone concentrations in the rural (Tikveš) and urban (Osijek) areas.

Analysis of monthly, winter, and annual temperatures in Zagreb, Croatia, from 1864 to 2010: the 7.7-year cycle and the North Atlantic Oscillation

Science.gov (United States)

Sen, Asok K.; Ogrin, Darko

2016-02-01

Long instrumental records of meteorological variables such as temperature and precipitation are very useful for studying regional climate in the past, present, and future. They can also be useful for understanding the influence of large-scale atmospheric circulation processes on the regional climate. This paper investigates the monthly, winter, and annual temperature time series obtained from the instrumental records in Zagreb, Croatia, for the period 1864-2010. Using wavelet analysis, the dominant modes of variability in these temperature series are identified, and the time intervals over which these modes may persist are delineated. The results reveal that all three temperature records exhibit low-frequency variability with a dominant periodicity at around 7.7 years. The 7.7-year cycle has also been observed in the temperature data recorded at several other stations in Europe, especially in Northern and Western Europe, and may be linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and/or solar/geomagnetic activity.

Corporate Governance Country Assessment : Republic of Croatia

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2001-01-01

Croatia's corporate governance system is framed by civil law with regulation for traded companies in part based on London securities rules and international standards for accounting and auditing. There are two public exchanges, which both have three tiers. The majority of companies are listed on the third tier, which has the lowest level of disclosure and listing requirements. The small nu...

Report of the Third Heart Surgery Forum Scientific Sessions: Zagreb, Croatia December 6-8, 2017: Conference Highlights.

Science.gov (United States)

Firstenberg, Michael S; Nguyen, Tom C; Roberts, Harold; Levinson, Mark M; Rudez, Igo

2018-02-26

The Heart Surgery Forum is an online community dedicated to topics related to all aspects of cardiothoracic surgery. It consists of an informative website (www.hsforum.com), a traditional indexed journal both in print and online, and an email-based "list-serv" for discussion of surgical cases and techniques. The email list-serv, "OpenHeart-L" (The Forum) is composed of surgeons and allied specialties (perfusion, anesthesia, nursing). Dr. Mark Levinson (USA) started The Forum originally in 1995. He also served as the first Editor-in-Chief of the print journal for many years. Coinciding with the popularity of The Forum, and the desire by many members to meet in person, the First Heart Surgery Forum Conference (#1 HSF) was held in Savudrija, Istria, Croatia in 2010. The overwhelming success of this meeting, in terms of attendance and scientific content, resulted in #2 HSF being held in Split, Croatia in 2014. Recently, the #3 HSF meeting was held in Zagreb, Croatia on December 6-8th, 2017. This report highlights the scientific events of this meeting, and more importantly aims to inspire greater involvement by the international cardiothoracic community. Substantial increasing attendance was seen at each subsequent meeting, not only in terms of the number of participants and lectures, but also in the number of countries represented.

RHAGOLETIS COMPLETA (DIPTERA; TEPHRITIDAE DISTRIBUTION, FLIGHT DYNAMICS AND INFLUENCE ON WALNUT KERNEL QUALITY IN THE CONTINENTAL CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Božena Barić

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Walnut husk fly (WHF, Rhagoletis completa Cresson 1929 is an invasive species spreading quickly and damaging walnuts in Croatia and neighbouring countries. We researched distribution of this pest in the continental part of Croatia, flight dynamics in Međimurje County and its influence on quality of walnut kernels. CSALOMON®PALz traps were used for monitoring the spread and flight dynamics of R. completa. Weight and the protein content of kernels and the presence of mycotoxin contamination were measured. Walnut husk fly was found in six counties (Istria County: pest reconfirmation, Zagreb County, The City of Zagreb, Varaždin County, Međimurje County and Koprivnica-Križevci County. The presence of the fly was not confirmed on one site in Koprivnica-Križevci County (locality Ferdinandovac and in the eastern part of Croatia (Vukovar-Srijem County: Vinkovci locality. The flight dynamics showed rapid increase in number of adults only a year after the introduction into new area. The weight of infested kernels was 5.81% lower compared to not infested. Protein content was 14.04% in infested kernels and 17.31% in not infested kernels. There was no difference in mycotoxins levels. Additional researches on mycotoxin levels in stored nuts, ovipositional preferences of walnut husk fly and protection measures against this pest are suggested.

The perspectives of nuclear option for Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feretic, D.

2004-01-01

In order to satisfy the expected level of electricity consumption in Croatia it will be necessary, as a minimum, until the year 2020 to install about 2000 MW in new power plants. Gas and coal fired plants presently are main competitors to nuclear power plants. In near future it my be different due to expected problems with gas availability and cost increase and also in adverse environmental impact (particularly due to CO 2 emissions) of coal fired plants. Nuclear power plants have advantage not only in economics of produced energy but also in impact to the environment. Preservation of knowledge obtained during construction of NPP Krsko is also an important reason to maintain nuclear option. Pre construction and construction period for new plants (particularly for coal fired and nuclear plants) could be long so that timely start of preparatory activities is indispensable to meet the required schedule.(author)

Regional Energy Potential of Municipal Solid Waste in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potocnik, V.

1997-01-01

MSW energy recovery in Croatia by thermal treatment in waste and landfill gas plants, similar to some 1200 such plants operating worldwide, could reduce waste impact on health and environment, and simultaneously substitute approximate 300000 tonnes of imported hard coal. (author)

CO2 emissions and economic development: China's 12th five-year plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng Ming; Niu Dongxiao; Shang Wei

2012-01-01

For the period of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011–2015), the Chinese government has decided to reconsider and adjust its policies on economic development because of the pressures of CO 2 emissions and fossil energy consumption. The current paper adopts the logarithmic Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model to simulate the relationship between CO 2 emissions and other economic development factors in China. Three groups of outliers are found using samples from 1989 to 2008 and the Partial Least Square (PLS) regularity test method. The outlier analysis reveals three important areas for CO 2 reduction: (a) decreasing the share of coal to the total energy consumption and replacing it with non-fossil energies; (b) controlling vehicles used in the cities as well as (c) adjusting industrial structure. Furthermore, based on the social and economic realities of China, the current paper designs six feasible development scenarios for the period covered by the 12th Five-Year Plan and predicts the values of each factor in each scenario. The values can test the implementation of China's CO 2 control development concept. The experiences obtained by outlier analysis can be of significant reference value for realizing the predicted scenarios. - Highlights: ► Using STIRPAT to analyze China's CO 2 emissions and economic development factors. ► Using the PLS outlier test method, three groups of outliers are found. ► Outlier analysis reveals three important areas on reducing CO 2 emissions. ► We design six feasible scenarios for the period covered by the 12th Five-Year Plan. ► We predict the values of each factor in each scenario.

ESWL treatment of urinary stones in children--the overview of 14 years of experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuvezdić, Hrvoje; Tucak, Antun; Perić, Nikica; Prlić, Damir; Zorić, Ivan; Galić, Radoslav

2003-01-01

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) treatment has been used at Department of Urology, University Hospital "Osijek", Croatia, since July 1988. Until December 2001 seven thousand and eight hundred patients underwent ESWL for urinary stones, 68 of them were children (0.87%). Sixty-eight children aged 4 to 15 years (average 10.14 years) underwent ESWL. They were treated for the total of 91 stones: 35 (38.46%) caliceal, 23 (25.27%) in pyelon, 7 (7.69%) in pyeloureteric segment and 14 (15.38%) ureteral. Staghorn calculi were found in 6 (6.59%) patients and multiple stones (four or more stones in the same kidney) in 6 (6.59%). There was total of 95 ESWL sessions performed in 68 patients (1.39 session per patient). Fifty-six patients (82.35%) without residual stones found at the control plain film and sonography of urinary tract were considered "stone free". Addition of 5 patients with clinically insignificant residual fragments (less than 4 mm) increases overall success rate to 89.70%. ESWL is a simple, safe and effective procedure in the management of urolithiasis in childhood. Clinical experience of our institution confirms ESWL as the first line treatment for kidney stones in the pediatric age patients.

CONSUMERS' WILLINGNESS TO PAY MORE FOR ORGANIC FOOD IN CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kristina Petljak

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Taking into consideration growing concerns about conventional agricultural practices, food safety, human health, animal welfare and the environment, the main goal of this paper is to identify the predictors of consumers' willingness to buy organic food and to pay a premium price for it. The research was conducted on a representative sample of respondents in the Republic of Croatia, a growing organic food market, using a highly structured questionnaire. Research results indicate that respondents in Croatia perceive organic food as more expensive, healthier and tastier than conventional food; also, they believe that the origin of organic food is strictly controlled. The results of hierarchical regression analysis indicate that higher monthly household income predicts a greater willingness to pay (WTP a higher price for organic food compared to conventional food. Also, perception of organic food as healthier and tastier than conventional food predicts a greater WTP a higher price for organic food compared to conventional products. It is expected that research results will be useful for food retailers in their market communication strategies towards further development and overall growth of the organic food market in Croatia. This research is one of its kind as it captures WTP a premium price for organic food and identifies the main factors influencing WTP a premium price for organic food on the growing Croatian market.

Risk Factors for Malnutrition Among Under-Five-Year olds in an ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objectives: To identify risk factors associated with the development of malnutrition in the under-five-year olds in a homogeneous inner city community. Design: A community-based, case-control study. Materials and Methods: One hundred and thirty eight children (subjects and controls) aged less than five years living in the ...

PRODUCTION AND SUPPLY BALANCE OF POULTRY MEAT IN CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivo Grgić

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Poultry meat is an important protein source in the human consumption. The main factors that have a positive effect on the development of the poultry industry are short production cycle, relatively low cost and the lack of religious restrictions on consumption. Chicken meat has the biggest share in the structure of poultry meat. The paper objective was to calculate the level of self-sufficiency degree in poultry meat in Croatia in the period from 2000 to 2012 and the degree of self-sufficiency in 2016 based on the results obtained. The method of balancing was used for calculation of self-sufficiency degree. The degree of self-sufficiency in the production of poultry meat in Croatia is higher than in other types of meat being between 80 and 90%. However, further decrease is expected and in 2016 domestic production would meet 81.17% of the domestic needs.

Trends in incidence of lung cancer in Croatia from 2001 to 2013: gender and regional differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Siroglavić, Katarina Josipa; Polić Vižintin, Marina; Tripković, Ingrid; Šekerija, Mario; Kukulj, Suzana

2017-10-31

To provide an overview of the lung cancer incidence trends in the City of Zagreb (Zagreb), Split-Dalmatia County (SDC), and Croatia in the period from 2001 to 2013. Incidence data were obtained from the Croatian National Cancer Registry. For calculating incidence rates per 100 000 population, we used population estimates for the period 2001-2013 from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics. Age-standardized rates of lung cancer incidence were calculated by the direct standardization method using the European Standard Population. To describe incidence trends, we used joinpoint regression analysis. Joinpoint analysis showed a statistically significant decrease in lung cancer incidence in men in all regions, with an annual percentage change (APC) of -2.2% for Croatia, 1.9% for Zagreb, and -2.0% for SDC. In women, joinpoint analysis showed a statistically significant increase in the incidence for Croatia, with APC of 1.4%, a statistically significant increase of 1.0% for Zagreb, and no significant change in trend for SDC. In both genders, joinpoint analysis showed a significant decrease in age-standardized incidence rates of lung cancer, with APC of -1.3% for Croatia, -1.1% for Zagreb, and -1.6% for SDC. There was an increase in female lung cancer incidence rate and a decrease in male lung cancer incidence rate in Croatia in 2001-20013 period, with similar patterns observed in all the investigated regions. These results highlight the importance of smoking prevention and cessation policies, especially among women and young people.

[Clinical picture of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Croatia].

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzman, Ilija

2003-01-01

Among many viral hemorrhagic fevers, only hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) occurs in Croatia. HFRS is a natural focus zoonosis with sudden onset, characterized by high fever and other clinical symptoms, renal insufficiency and hemorrhages. In Croatia, HFRS is caused by two types of hantaviruses--Puumala (PUU) and Dobrava (DOB). The basic pathologic and patophysiologic disorder in HFRS is capillary damage (vasculitis). Incubation of HFRS has not been precisely determined, it is most frequently around two weeks. The disease onset is usually abrupt. At the beginning, general symptoms include high fever and myalgias, especially in the lumbar region, and abdominal pain, as well as strong headaches, malaise and nausea, and often vomiting or diarrhea. In half of the patients respiratory symptoms occur. Later on, some patients may experience hypotension, oliguria and other signs of renal failure, and apart from petechial, severe hemorrhages may also occur in other organs. During typical clinical presentation of the disease, some characteristic symptoms are clearly distinguished in particular stages of the disease. Therefore, the course of HFRS is usually divided into five distinct stages (febrile, hypotensive, oliguric, polyuric and convalescent). Such a course of the disease is more commonly present in case of DOB virus than PUU virus infection. The febrile stage with sudden onset usually lasts from 3 to 7 days, when thrombocytopenia and hemoconcentration, as well as albuminuria and hematuria are almost always recorded. The hypotensive stage lasts from one to 2 days on an average and is characterized by lower blood pressure and signs of renal failure. The oliguric stage usually starts at the beginning of the second week of the disease, when extensive hemorrhage may occur and urea and creatinine reach their highest values. The oliguric stage is followed by the polyuric stage which can last for up to two weeks, and is characterized by excretion of a large

Bon courage! (Five-Yearly Review)

CERN Multimedia

Association du personnel

2006-01-01

With these words of encouragement the Director General ended his long presentation to the staff on 12 January. And he is not wrong there…we certainly will need courage, not only to complete the LHC and other CERN projects, but also, unfortunately, to defend our employment conditions. Indeed, Mr. Aymar very (too) quickly presented us with his conclusions on the Five-Yearly Review, in a resolutely positive manner. In short, we can say that, beneath a deceptive exterior, a serious attack on our employment conditions is in preparation! Salary levels, careers, family…we are talking about your future! Last June, a huge majority of you approved the Staff Association's demands for this Review.

Venous thromboembolism in Croatia - Croatian Cooperative Group for Hematologic Diseases (CROHEM) study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pulanić, Dražen; Gverić-Krečak, Velka; Nemet-Lojan, Zlatka; Holik, Hrvoje; Coha, Božena; Babok-Flegarić, Renata; Komljenović, Mili; Knežević, Dijana; Petrovečki, Mladen; Zupančić Šalek, Silva; Labar, Boris; Nemet, Damir

2015-12-01

To analyze the incidence and characteristics of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in Croatia. The Croatian Cooperative Group for Hematologic Diseases conducted an observational non-interventional study in 2011. Medical records of patients with newly diagnosed VTE hospitalized in general hospitals in 4 Croatian counties (Šibenik-Knin, Koprivnica-Križevci, Brod-Posavina, and Varaždin County) were reviewed. According to 2011 Census, the population of these counties comprises 13.1% of the Croatian population. There were 663 patients with VTE; 408 (61.54%) had deep vein thrombosis, 219 (33.03%) had pulmonary embolism, and 36 (5.43%) had both conditions. Median age was 71 years, 290 (43.7%) were men and 373 (56.3%) women. Secondary VTE was found in 57.3% of participants, idiopathic VTE in 42.7%, and recurrent VTE in 11.9%. There were no differences between patients with secondary VTE and patients with idiopathic VTE in disease recurrence and sex. The most frequent causes of secondary VTE were cancer (40.8%), and trauma, surgery, and immobilization (38.2%), while 42.9% patients with secondary VTE had ≥2 causes. There were 8.9% patients ≤45 years; 3.3% with idiopathic or recurrent VTE. Seventy patients (10.6%) died, more of whom had secondary (81.4%) than idiopathic (18.6%) VTE (PCroatia was 1.185 per 1000 people. Characteristics of VTE in Croatia are similar to those reported in large international studies. Improved thromboprophylaxis during the presence of risk factors for secondary VTE might substantially lower the VTE burden.

Epidemiologic characteristics and military implications of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mulić, Rosanda; Ropac, Darko

2002-10-01

To analyze epidemiologic characteristics of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Croatia, including military implications of the disease and measures for its prevention. We analyzed data from obligatory infectious disease reports and notification of deaths due to infectious diseases, data on the hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome epidemics in Croatia, and data collected by survey of the population, serological findings, and studies of wild rodents serving as reservoirs of the infection. During the 1987-2001 period, 235 cases of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome were recorded in Croatia, with 147 (62.6%) of them among Croatian Army soldiers. Mortality rate was up to 15.4% (mean 2.2%) (5/235). The highest number of cases was recorded in months of June and July, ie, during the warm season characterized by increased activity of both the animals acting as infection reservoirs and humans as hosts. The known natural foci of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome have been Plitvice and Slunj areas, Velika and Mala Kapela mountains, Zagreb area (Velika Gorica and Jastrebarsko), west Slavonia, Novska area, and Dinara Mountain. The disease has not been recorded in the littoral area and Adriatic islands. The identified causative agents include Dobrava and Puumala viruses of the genus Hantavirus, whereas rodents Clethrionomys glareolus, Apodemus flavicollis, Apodemus agrarius, and Apodemus sylvaticus serve as the main reservoirs of the infection. Typical biotopes of the infection in Croatia are deciduous woods. The measures of prevention in Croatia include pest control, disinfection, hygienic waste disposal, preventing rodent access to food and water, proper choice of camping sites, and health education. Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome occurs predominantly in soldiers, in a sporadic or epidemic form. Because of the course of disease and potentially lethal outcome, the disease has a considerable impact on the field task performance and combat readiness of

Proceedings of 17th Forum: Energy Day in Croatia: Europe, Region and Croatia in 2030

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

The international community is faced with a big test of determining the marginal requirements of environmental impact aimed at preventing the climate change potentially endangering the survival of the civilisation as we know it. This phrase actually reflects the course of developments to be expected if we do not change our attitude towards the protection of the environment. This is a huge challenge for the energy sector and technological development: how to meet the growing needs for energy and, at the same time, significantly diminish the ecological burden. In the past 2 years the EU has put forward very ambitious plans. The question is are the designed mechanisms sufficient to facilitate the implementation of these plans and if the awareness of all actors participating in the process is high enough to enable this implementation.This Forum wants to open the decision about the future of the future in energy development in Europe, Region and Croatia. It is important that we all become aware that the changes in the energy sector will be dramatic if the obligations to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, mostly CO 2 , are accepted in order to start working in that direction as soon as today

First Epigravettian Ceramic Figurines from Europe (Vela Spila, Croatia)

Science.gov (United States)

Farbstein, Rebecca; Radić, Dinko; Brajković, Dejana; Miracle, Preston T.

2012-01-01

Recent finds of 36 ceramic artifacts from the archaeological site of Vela Spila, Croatia, offer the first evidence of ceramic figurative art in late Upper Palaeolithic Europe, c. 17,500–15,000 years before present (BP). The size and diversity of this artistic ceramic assemblage indicate the emergence of a social tradition, rather than more ephemeral experimentation with a new material. Vela Spila ceramics offer compelling technological and stylistic comparisons with the only other evidence of a developed Palaeolithic ceramic tradition found at the sites of Pavlov I and Dolní Věstonice I, in the Czech Republic, c. 31,000–27,000 cal BP. Because of the 10,000-year gap between the two assemblages, the Vela Spila ceramics are interpreted as evidence of an independent invention of this technology. Consequently, these artifacts provide evidence of a new social context in which ceramics developed and were used to make art in the Upper Palaeolithic. PMID:22848495

Radiation curing - twenty five years on

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garnett, J.L.

1995-01-01

Progress in UV/EB curing during the past twenty five years is briefly reviewed. During this time developments in unique polymer chemistry, novel equipment design and the introduction of relevant educational programmes has enabled radiation curing to become an established technology with specific strengths in certain industries. Possible reasons for the emergence of the technology in these niche markets are discussed. Despite the worldwide recession, radiation curing is shown to be expanding at 5% per annum with the prospect of higher growth with improving economic conditions. (Author)

Five-Yearly Review: TREF avoids the worst!

CERN Multimedia

Staff Association

2006-01-01

In our last edition, we informed you about the Staff Council decision to reject the entire set of proposals for the five-yearly review, on the basis of the Director-General's revised proposals 2 and 10. We also indicated that a total failure could still be avoided at TREF on 4 and 5 October. To our relief, TREF avoided the worst!

The Quality of Gymnasium Education in the Banal Croatia in the Era of Neoabsolutism (1854-1860)

Science.gov (United States)

Bošnjak, Arijana Kolak

2015-01-01

The goal of this paper is to present an attempt to increase the quality of education in the Banal Croatia by analysing the reports sent to the Ministry of Religion and Education in Vienna by secondary school supervisor for the Banal Croatia Anton Jarc as well as the existing scholarly literature. The mentioned attempt was based on a reform of the…

Functional distribution of income and economic activity in Croatia: Post-Keynesian approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boris Vujčić

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to quantify the effects of changes in functional income distribution on selected macroeconomic variables in Croatia in period from 2000-2012. We use structural VAR approach with identification scheme based on a priori restrictions that are derived from theoretical framework of Post-Keynesian macroeconomic model. Our main hypothesis, which is confirmed in the empirical analysis, is that the accumulation of capital in Croatia was primarily determined by income from labor, i.e. that Croatia had wage-led accumulation. We also found that labor market dynamics was dominantly influenced by demand side shocks and that positive effects of the rise in exports, resulting from the gain in competitiveness (after reducing wage share in income outweigh negative effects of weaker demand on the capacity utilization. So in our opinion export share increase should become policy priority, as domestic demand is currently constrained by high private and public debt levels. To the extent that increase in exports might require decline in the relative share of labor, negative impact on the investments in non-tradable sector would need to be offset with higher investments in tradable sector of Croatian economy.

First Record of Eutypella parasitica on Maples in Urban Area in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dario Ivić

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background and Purpose: Eutypella parasitica, a plant pathogenic fungus attacking maples (Acer spp. was detected for the first time in Croatia in 2007. From 2007 to 2014, it was found only in forests, on several trees in Hum na Sutli, near Slovenian border. In 2015, the presence of Eutypella parasitica was monitored for the first time in urban areas. Materials and Methods: Within the official survey programme, 23 visual surveys were conducted and 24 samples were collected and analysed for the presence of fungi. E. parasitica was found in Bundek Park in Zagreb. Typical symptoms of Eutypella canker were detected on two field maples (Acer campestre and two boxelder maples (Acer negundo. Twelve isolates were collected from symptomatic trees. Conclusions: Eleven out of twelve isolates from four trees were confirmed as E. parasitica by species-specific polymerase chain reaction. This is the first report of E. parasitica in Zagreb, the first record of E. parasitica in Croatia outside forests, as well as a record of a new host species in Croatia, boxelder maple (A. negundo. Introduction pathway of E. parasitica in Zagreb remains unknown.

Unrecorded capital flows and accumulation of foreign assets: the case of Croatia

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Goran Vukšić

2010-03-01

Full Text Available This paper evaluates the magnitude of unrecorded capital flows and the resulting unrecorded accumulation of foreign assets for Croatia, over the period between 2000 and 2007. The problem of unrecorded capital outflows, often labeled as capital flight, has gained significance in the present global financial and economic crises, because of increasing capital scarcity in many emerging markets and transition economies including Croatia. The findings reveal relatively large amounts of unrecorded foreign asset accumulation over the observed period. A large portion of this accumulation relates to cumulative amounts of net errors and omissions term, which is interpreted as unrecorded capital flow. There are reasons to believe that this net errors and omissions item in Croatia possibly partly represents the unrecorded accumulation of foreign cash from foreign tourist spending, and/or partly results from overstated tourism income in the official statistics.However, even after excluding this item from the calculation of capital flight, the remaining unrecorded accumulation of foreign assets over the period is still substantial. Consequently, if these unrecorded flows are taken into account, Croatia’s net international investment position is improved.

Communication of 2 June 1998 received from the Permanent Mission of Croatia to the International Atomic Energy Agency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

The document reproduces the text of a communication dated 2 June 1998 received at the IAEA from the Permanent Mission of Croatia to the IAEA, including a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia, regarding the tests of nuclear weapons conducted by Pakistan

Emergency response activities and collecting damaged radiation devices from a war affected area in Croatia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Subasic, Damir; Schaller, Antum [APO-Hazardous Waste Management Agency, Zagreb (Croatia)

1997-12-31

A number of various devices containing ionizing radiation sources were in use in the area affected by the recent war in Croatia. In destruction caused by the war operations, a number of these devices were damaged, destroyed or even missed/lost. The actions undertaken to (re)collect these radiation sources, experience gained and lessons learned are reviewed. The importance of a well-organized national regulatory system is highlighted as a precondition for the efficient identification and safe collection of radiation sources which were under ruins. Experience from this event could be well applicable to similar situations caused by disasters and particularly for regulatory authorities who design emergency preparedness plans. (author) 4 refs., 1 tab.

The five year report of the Tunnel Sealing Experiment: an international project of AECL, JNC, ANDRA and WIPP

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chandler, N.A.; Cournut, A.; Dixon, D. (and others)

2002-07-01

The Tunnel Sealing Experiment (TSX) was conducted to address construction and performance issues of full-scale seals for potential application to deep geological repositories for radioactive waste. The TSX was performed by an international partnership representing Japan, France, the United States and Canada. The experiment was installed at the 420-m depth of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited's Underground Research Laboratory in the granite rock of the Precambrian Canadian Shield. The experiment involved the construction of two full-scale tunnel seals at either end of a single excavation. One seal was an assembly of pre-compacted sand-bentonite blocks and the second seal was a single cast of Low-Heat High-Performance concrete. The objective of the TSX was to assess the applicability of technologies for construction of practicable concrete and bentonite bulkheads; to evaluate the performance of each bulkhead; and to identify and document the parameters that affect that performance. This report documents the construction and operation of the experiment over its first five years. During this period, the experiment was designed, tunnels were excavated, and the seals were constructed. The sand-filled region between the two bulkhead seals was filled and pressurized with water to 800 and 2000 kPa. A tracer test was conducted at a tunnel pressure of 800 kPa to assess the solute transport characteristics of full-scale tunnel seals. The most important outcome from the TSX is that functional full-scale repository seals can be constructed using currently available technology. Factors identified as potentially affecting seal performance included: excavation method and minimizing the excavation damaged zone (EDZ); keying bulkheads into the rock to interrupt the EDZ; compacted sand-bentonite placement method; treatment of clay bulkhead-rock interface; rate of clay saturation compared with the rate of water pressurization; clay bulkhead volume expansion; the resealing properties

Emerging cases of chlamydial abortion in sheep and goats in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Science.gov (United States)

Spičic, Silvio; Račić Ivana; Andrijanić, Milan; Duvnjak, Sanja; Zdelar-Tuk, Maja; Stepanić, Maja; Cvetnić, Zeljko

2015-01-01

In a recent lambing season (2012/2013), the seroprevalence of ovine chlamydiosis was monitored in small ruminant abortion cases in Croatia. Blood samples of 93 sheep and 69 goats were examined. In addition, 50 sheep and 61 goat samples were tested using molecular methods. Furthermore, 14 sheep blood samples, one goat blood sample and one sheep placenta sample from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) were also tested as a part of inter-laboratory cooperation. Overall high seroprevalence was detected in sheep, 19.6% with the ELISA IDEXX kit and 20.5% with the ClVTEST kit. Seroprevalence in goats was 11.4%. In BIH, four sheep and one goat blood sample were seropositive for chlamydiosis. The disease causing agent, Chlamydia abortus (C. abortus) was confirmed using molecular methods in two sheep flocks in continental Croatia and in one sheep flock in BIH. In this study, C. abortus infection in sheep was identified for the first time in Croatia using species specific molecular methods. Ovine chlamydiosis is present in national sheep and goat flocks in Croatia and BIH. Thus should be subject to ongoing controls in the case of abortion. A combination of serological and molecular methods should be used for optimal laboratory diagnostics of C. abortus.

Five-Year NRHP Re-Evaluation of Historic Buildings Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ullrich, R A; Heidecker, K R

2011-09-12

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) 'Draft Programmatic Agreement among the Department of Energy and the California State Historic Preservation Officer Regarding Operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory' requires a review and re-evaluation of the eligibility of laboratory properties for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) every five years. The original evaluation was published in 2005; this report serves as the first five-year re-evaluation. This re-evaluation includes consideration of changes within LLNL to management, to mission, and to the built environment. it also determines the status of those buildings, objects, and districts that were recommended as NRHP-eligible in the 2005 report. Buildings that were omitted from the earlier building list, those that have reached 50 years of age since the original assessment, and new buildings are also addressed in the re-evaluation.

The Educational Program "Zajedno Jaci" (Stronger Together) in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Spanja, Sanja

2011-01-01

In this paper, we explore intercultural learning undertaken through the educational program "Stronger Together." The program "Stronger Together" was created in 1998 in order to support and educate teachers working with children in post-war regions of Croatia using intercultural education and cooperative learning as tools for…

IMPACT OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI ON DOMESTIC INVESTMENT IN REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

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Igor Ivanović

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate how foreign direct investment (FDI affects domestic investment in the Republic of Croatia. More precisely, the general purpose of this study is to determine the impact of net inflow of foreign capital on domestic investment in order to gain a clearer picture about the sensitivity and efficiency of domestic investment. After parsing domestic investment and FDI in Croatia, according to Croatian Bureau of Statistics and the Croatian National Bank, a historical overview of their movement from 1995 to 2014 was analyzed. In the following an overview and comparison of studies from around the world which deal with similar topic was made. In the empirical part; domestic gross fixed capital formation, changes in domestic stocks, net FDI and GDP growth rate was used as variables. Quarterly time series data ranging from the Q1 2001 to Q4 2014 were processed with the subset VAR (vector autoregressive econometric model. The results shows that FDI have negative influence on domestic investment in the Republic of Croatia with time lag.

Proposal for a New Model for Highway Records in the Republic of Croatia

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Rinaldo Paar

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Highways are public roads, whose function is to integrate Croatia in the European transport system, link the regions of Croatia and facilitate transit traffic. They are public property for general use, owned by the Republic of Croatia, and they cannot be the subject of acquisition or other proprietary rights of any kind. Today, there are two types of highway record-keeping. The first is conducted by leading companies authorised to manage highways in order to develop a highway database, or create a highway register. The second is conducted by land-management systems; the Cadastre and Land Registry. They are the official public registers for keeping records of land plots, buildings and other structures, and their ownership. Procedures that need to be implemented in the second type of record-keeping often get "stuck" in practice. Based on the problems identified in this model and an analysis of the state of record-keeping, a proposal for a new model for highway records in the Cadastre and Land Registry is given. Keywords: highways; building plot; expropriation; record; Cadastre; Land Registry

Tax wedge in Croatia, Belgium, Estonia, Germany and Slovakia

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Ana Gabrilo

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyse the taxation of labour income in Croatia, Belgium,Estonia, Germany and Slovakia. Having presented an outline of tax system rules, the paper shows the decomposition of the net average tax wedge for different family types and different income levels based on the OECD methodology. The results show that all observed countries apply a progressive tax schedule, apart from Germany where taxation for higher gross wages is not progressive due to a  cap on the SIC base. When it comes to a taxpayer earning an average gross wage, a Croatian single worker without children has the lowest tax burden, followed by Estonia, Slovakia, Germany and Belgium. However, as regards taxpayers earning 400% of AGW, Estonia has the smallest tax wedge, followed by Slovakia, Germany, Croatia and Belgium. Similar results are obtained by analyzing the tax wedge for couples with two children where one spouse is out of work.

Emission Reduction Potential with the Renewal of the Vehicle Fleet in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zidov, B.; Brlek, G.; Brajkovic, J.; Karan, M.

2015-01-01

The European Union has identified the typical areas of application of measures to tackle the problem of pollutants emissions into the air. Road transport is recognized as the largest polluter of the environment and an increase in CO2 emissions is most difficult to suppress in this type of transport. Looking at the projected trend of emission reductions in Croatia, it is clear that for achieving the minimum targets by 2050, as proposed by the European Union, implementation of the very strong measures in the coming period will be inevitable. The main aim of the paper refers to the analysis of potential emission reduction of pollutants generated by passenger vehicles registered in Croatia, assuming the implementation of measures that will result in technological renewal of the fleet at the national level. Generally considering, passenger cars before the Euro 1 standard, Euro 1 and Euro 2 standards together emit nearly 40 percent of all CO2 emissions generated by passenger cars registered in Croatia. Assuming replacement of all cars up to and including Euro 2, with Euro 6 vehicles, and taking into account certain assumptions, the potential reductions in emissions of NOx, CO, CH4 and particles were quantified. The potential reduction in NOx emissions is approximately 3,061 tons, in CO emissions approximately 14482 tons, in CH4 approximately 114 tons and in particulate matter approximately 257 tons. Depending on the engine size, with the replacement of the typical gasoline 20 years old passenger vehicle with the new one, without changing the driving mode, annual savings of up to 209 liters of gasoline fuel and reduction of CO2 emissions by 475 kg could be achieved (according to the assumptions described in the paper). With the replacement of diesel vehicles under the same conditions, the savings of up to 311 liters of diesel fuel annually and reduction of CO2 emissions by 815 kg could be achieved. (author).

Five-Year Risk of Interval-Invasive Second Breast Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Buist, Diana S. M.; Houssami, Nehmat; Dowling, Emily C.; Halpern, Elkan F.; Gazelle, G. Scott; Lehman, Constance D.; Henderson, Louise M.; Hubbard, Rebecca A.

2015-01-01

Background: Earlier detection of second breast cancers after primary breast cancer (PBC) treatment improves survival, yet mammography is less accurate in women with prior breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to examine women presenting clinically with second breast cancers after negative surveillance mammography (interval cancers), and to estimate the five-year risk of interval-invasive second cancers for women with varying risk profiles. Methods: We evaluated a prospective cohort of 15 114 women with 47 717 surveillance mammograms diagnosed with stage 0-II unilateral PBC from 1996 through 2008 at facilities in the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. We used discrete time survival models to estimate the association between odds of an interval-invasive second breast cancer and candidate predictors, including demographic, PBC, and imaging characteristics. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: The cumulative incidence of second breast cancers after five years was 54.4 per 1000 women, with 325 surveillance-detected and 138 interval-invasive second breast cancers. The five-year risk of interval-invasive second cancer for women with referent category characteristics was 0.60%. For women with the most and least favorable profiles, the five-year risk ranged from 0.07% to 6.11%. Multivariable modeling identified grade II PBC (odds ratio [OR] = 1.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.15 to 3.31), treatment with lumpectomy without radiation (OR = 3.27, 95% CI = 1.91 to 5.62), interval PBC presentation (OR = 2.01, 95% CI 1.28 to 3.16), and heterogeneously dense breasts on mammography (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.01 to 2.36) as independent predictors of interval-invasive second breast cancers. Conclusions: PBC diagnosis and treatment characteristics contribute to variation in subsequent-interval second breast cancer risk. Consideration of these factors may be useful in developing tailored post-treatment imaging surveillance plans. PMID:25904721

Quantification of climate tourism potential of Croatia based on measured data and regional modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Brosy, Caroline; Zaninovic, Ksenija; Matzarakis, Andreas

2014-08-01

Tourism is one of the most important economic sectors in Croatia. The Adriatic coast is a popular travel destination for tourists, especially during the summer months. During their activities, tourists are affected by atmospheric conditions and therefore by weather and climate. Therefore, it is important to have reliable information about thermal conditions as well as their impacts on human beings. Here, the climate tourism potential of Croatia is presented and quantified on the basis of three selected stations in different climatic regions. The physiologically equivalent temperature is used for analysis as well as other climatic parameters relevant for tourism and recreation. The results already point to hot conditions for outdoor activities in summer during afternoons, especially along the coast but also for continental regions, resulting in a reduction of the climate tourism potential. In the future, this trend looks set to increase, possibly leading to a changing tourism sector in Croatia requiring adaptation and new strategies.

Alloimmune neonatal neutropenia in Croatia during the 1998-2008 period.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomicic, Maja; Starcevic, Mirta; Ribicic, Rebeka; Golubic-Cepulic, Branka; Hundric-Haspl, Zeljka; Jukic, Irena

2014-05-01

The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of the disease and to analyze laboratory data of 23 newborns undergoing serologic testing for alloimmune neonatal neutropenia (ANN) during the 1998-2008 period in Croatia. Laboratory data on 23 newborns undergoing serologic testing for ANN during the 1998-2008 period and epidemiologic data on the number of live births in Croatia were analyzed. Laboratory testing for ANN included serologic screening of maternal and neonatal sera and granulocytes (neutrophils) by immunofluorescence (IF) method. The monoclonal antibody immobilization of neutrophil antigens (MAINA) was employed to determine anti-HNA antibody specificity. Anti-HNA antibodies were detected in seven (54%) of 13 cases of serologically positive ANN. Only anti-HLA class I antibodies were demonstrated in four (31%) of 13 cases In the 2007-2008 period of prospective data collection, the number of serologically verified ANN cases was one case per 17,323 live births. Results of the prospective study conducted at Maternity Ward, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center yielded the ANN incidence of one case per 2843 live births. Monitoring of neutrophil count in neonatal blood and serologic testing for ANN in case of isolated neutropenia in the newborn contributed considerably to timely detection of ANN. Neonatal alloimmune neutropenia-incidence, serologic diagnosis, antineutrophil antibodies, anti-HNA, anti-HLA class I, Croatia. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluation of energy efficiency policy instruments effectiveness : case study Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bukarica, V.

2007-01-01

This paper proposed a theoretical basis for evaluating energy efficiency policy in the Republic of Croatia and corroborated it with the analysis of energy efficiency market development and transformation. The current status of the market was evaluated and policy instruments were adapted to achieve optimal results. In particular, the energy efficiency market in Croatia was discussed in terms of micro and macro environment factors that influence policy making processes and the choice of policy instruments. The macro environment for energy efficiency market in Croatia is the process of European Union pre-integration with all related national and international legislation, political and economical factors and potential to use financial funds. The micro environment consists of government institutions, local financing institutions and a range of market players on the supply and demand side. Energy efficiency is the most powerful and cost-effective way for achieving goals of sustainable development. Policy instruments developed to improve energy efficiency are oriented towards a cleaner environment, better standard of living, more competitive industry and improved security of energy supply. Energy efficiency is much harder to implement and requires policy interventions. In response to recent trends in the energy sector, such as deregulation and open competition, policy measures aimed at improving energy efficiency should shift from an end-users oriented approach towards a whole market approach. The optimal policy instruments mix should be designed to meet defined targets. However, market dynamics must be taken into consideration. 9 refs., 4 figs

Determinants of disability pensions in Croatia: the role of institutions

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Marijana Badun

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The goal of this paper is to investigate why Croatia has a large number of disability pension beneficiaries. Approximately one quarter of Croatia’s retired population is receiving a pension based on disability. After a presentation of the most important facts and figures, the following possible determinants of disability pensions in Croatia are considered: health status, conditions of work, socioeconomic status, war, and institutions. Simple before-after comparisons suggest that institutional reforms had a strong impact on the number of disability pension beneficiaries. Furthermore, the granting of disability pensions has been plagued by corruption, which shows the importance of informal institutions as well. Future research should focus on micro-data in order to find specific social and health care policy measures to alleviate the effect of socioeconomic and health factors on the incidence of disability.

Readability and Content Assessment of Informed Consent Forms for Medical Procedures in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Vučemilo, Luka; Borovečki, Ana

2015-01-01

High quality of informed consent form is essential for adequate information transfer between physicians and patients. Current status of medical procedure consent forms in clinical practice in Croatia specifically in terms of the readability and the content is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the readability and the content of informed consent forms for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures used with patients in Croatia. 52 informed consent forms from six Croatian hospitals on the secondary and tertiary health-care level were tested for reading difficulty using Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) formula adjusted for Croatian language and for qualitative analysis of the content. The averaged SMOG grade of analyzed informed consent forms was 13.25 (SD 1.59, range 10-19). Content analysis revealed that informed consent forms included description of risks in 96% of the cases, benefits in 81%, description of procedures in 78%, alternatives in 52%, risks and benefits of alternatives in 17% and risks and benefits of not receiving treatment or undergoing procedures in 13%. Readability of evaluated informed consent forms is not appropriate for the general population in Croatia. The content of the forms failed to include in high proportion of the cases description of alternatives, risks and benefits of alternatives, as well as risks and benefits of not receiving treatments or undergoing procedures. Data obtained from this research could help in development and improvement of informed consent forms in Croatia especially now when Croatian hospitals are undergoing the process of accreditation.

Mineral raw materials for power production in legislation of the Republic of Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matisa, Z.

1999-01-01

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, mineral wealth is a public good of legal interest to the Republic of Croatia and enjoys its special protection. The Mining Law establishes that mineral wealth (including mineral resources that are used for power production) is the property of the Republic of Croatia. Among other mineral raw materials, this refers to mineral raw materials that are used for power production: coal, oil, natural gas, radioactive mineral raw materials and geothermal waters. These mineral resources are as almost all other mineral raw materials with the exception of geothermal waters, an unrecoverable natural resource. The right to use that natural resource may be granted only by a concession. The mining legislation provides for exploration and exploitation of mineral raw materials. Exploration of oil and gas is considered to comprise operations and testing with the aim to establish the existence, position and form of oil and natural gas deposits, their quality and quantity, as well as exploitation conditions. Exploitation of oil and natural gas is considered to comprise extraction from deposits, refining and transport, as well as disposal in geological structures. Mineral raw materials used in power production amount to 63% of national total primary energy production, and they cover 33% of total power consumption in the country. Legislation in the Republic of Croatia, which refers to exploration and exploitation of oil and natural gas, allows economic utilization of that unrecoverable natural wealth to run smoothly and in compliance with practices in our European environment. (author)

Readability and Content Assessment of Informed Consent Forms for Medical Procedures in Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Vučemilo, Luka; Borovečki, Ana

2015-01-01

Background High quality of informed consent form is essential for adequate information transfer between physicians and patients. Current status of medical procedure consent forms in clinical practice in Croatia specifically in terms of the readability and the content is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the readability and the content of informed consent forms for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures used with patients in Croatia. Methods 52 informed consent forms from six Croatian hospitals on the secondary and tertiary health-care level were tested for reading difficulty using Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) formula adjusted for Croatian language and for qualitative analysis of the content. Results The averaged SMOG grade of analyzed informed consent forms was 13.25 (SD 1.59, range 10–19). Content analysis revealed that informed consent forms included description of risks in 96% of the cases, benefits in 81%, description of procedures in 78%, alternatives in 52%, risks and benefits of alternatives in 17% and risks and benefits of not receiving treatment or undergoing procedures in 13%. Conclusions Readability of evaluated informed consent forms is not appropriate for the general population in Croatia. The content of the forms failed to include in high proportion of the cases description of alternatives, risks and benefits of alternatives, as well as risks and benefits of not receiving treatments or undergoing procedures. Data obtained from this research could help in development and improvement of informed consent forms in Croatia especially now when Croatian hospitals are undergoing the process of accreditation. PMID:26376183

Health surveillance in milling, baking and other food manufacturing operations--five years' experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, T A; Patton, J

1999-04-01

The objective of this study was to describe the incidence of allergic respiratory disease and its outcome in terms of symptoms and jobs, across different flour-using industries. It uses the findings of a health surveillance programme in a large food organization over a five-year period. The population under surveillance consisted of 3,450 employees with exposure to ingredient dusts, of whom 400 were in flour milling, 1,650 in bread baking, 550 in cake baking and 850 in other flour-using operations. A total of 66 employees with either asthma or rhinitis symptoms attributable to sensitization to allergens in the workplace were identified. The majority of these (48/66) had become symptomatic prior to the commencement of the health surveillance programme in 1993. The incidence rates (per million employees per year) for those who developed symptoms between 1993 and 1997 were 550 for flour milling, 1,940 for bread baking, 0 for cake baking and 235 for other flour-using operations. The agent believed to be responsible for symptoms was most commonly grain dust in flour millers and fungal amylase in bread bakers. Wheat flour appeared to have a weaker sensitizing potential than these other two substances. In terms of outcome, at follow-up 18% of symptomatically sensitized employees had left the company. Two of the ex-employees retired through ill health due to occupational asthma. Of those still in employment, 63% described an improvement in symptoms, 32% were unchanged and 4% were worse than when first diagnosed. Over half the cases still in employment were continuing to work in the same job as at the time of diagnosis.

Clinical anatomy e-cases: a five-year follow-up of learning analytics.

Science.gov (United States)

Perumal, Vivek; Butson, Russell; Blyth, Phil; Daniel, Ben

2017-01-27

This article explores the development and user experiences of a supplementary e-learning resource (clinical anatomy e-cases) for medical students, across a five-year teaching period. A series of online supplementary e-learning resources (the clinical anatomy e-cases) were developed and introduced to the regional and clinical anatomy module of the medicine course. Usage analytics were collected online from a cohort of third-year medical students and analysed to gain a better understanding of how students utilised these resources. Key results showed that the students used the supplementary learning resource during and outside regular teaching hours that includes a significant access during holidays. Analysis also suggested that the resources were frequently accessed during examination periods and during subsequent clinical study years (fourth or fifth years of medicine course). Increasing interest and positive feedback from students has led to the development of a further series of e-cases. Tailor-made e-learning resources promote clinical anatomy learning outside classroom hours and make supplementary learning a 24/7 task.

Main Aspects of the Rodos System Implementation in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sucic, B.; Medakovic, S.; Skanata, D.; Tomisa, T.

2002-01-01

Analyses made in Europe after the accident in Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant have shown that the key-element with the biggest impact on the development of consequences during and immediately after the accident was deficient notifying which was also unsystematic and in disorder. Therefore, scientific and expert organisations of the European Union have been faced with the task of system development above all meant to improve communication between European countries in terms of measured parameters exchange (the radiological and meteorological ones), that would be generally applicable in all the European countries. Development of such a system going by the name of RODOS (Real Time On Line DecisiOn Support) began in 1989 within the framework of the European Commission's research and technological development program. The main aspects associated with the implementation of the RODOS system in Croatia are described within this article. By the main aspects of implementation we mean technical prerequisites that the Republic of Croatia is due to fulfil before joining in, and they include activities like: (1) translating users' interfaces into Croatian, (2) adapting various models in consistence with local parameters, (3) collecting geographical data, (4) making specific local maps and collecting statistical data (GIS), and (5) linking the RODOS real-time data base with the net of local measure stations (radiological and meteorological). Activities of this scale and technically so demanding, request certain organisational prerequisites as well as considerable material resources. From the point of view of the Republic of Croatia, establishment of the RODOS system and inclusion into the real-time international exchange of measured radiological data would mean major improvement of the nuclear emergency response preparedness system. (author)

Incidence and mortality trends of gastric and colorectal cancers in Croatia, 1988-2008

Science.gov (United States)

Kirac, Iva; Šekerija, Mario; Šimunović, Iva; Zgaga, Lina; Vrdoljak, Danko Velimir; Kovačević, Dujo; Kuliš, Tomislav; Znaor, Ariana

2012-01-01

Aim To estimate the incidence and mortality trends of gastric and colorectal cancers in Croatia between 1988 and 2008. Methods Incidence data for the period 1988-2008 were obtained from the Croatian National Cancer Registry. The number of deaths from gastric and colorectal cancers was obtained from the World Health Organization mortality database. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to describe changes in trends by sex. Results Gastric cancer incidence rates declined steadily during the study period, with estimated annual percent change (EAPC) of -3.2% for men and -2.8% for women. Mortality rates in men decreased, with EAPC of -5.0% from 1988-1995 and -2.5% from 1995-2008. Mortality rates in women decreased, with EAPC of -3.2% throughout the study period. For colorectal cancer in men, joinpoint analysis revealed increasing trends of both incidence (EAPC 2.9%) and mortality (EAPC 2.1%).In women, the increase in incidence was not significant, but mortality in the last 15 years showed a significant increase of 1.1%. Conclusion The incidence and mortality trends of gastric cancer in Croatia are similar to other European countries, while the still increasing colorectal cancer mortality calls for more efficient prevention and treatment. PMID:22522990

Medical education changes students' attitudes on psychiatry: survey among medical students in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Flajsman, Ana Medic; Degmecic, Dunja; Pranjkovic, Tamara; Rogulja, Stanislav; Bošnjak, Dina; Kuzman, Martina Rojnic

2017-12-01

In Croatia, psychiatric disorders are the leading group of disorders by days of hospitalization and they are in second place according to the number of hospitalizations in the period of working age. Nevertheless, psychiatry in Croatia, as well as in the world, is one of the least attractive specialties for medical students. In this paper we determined the impact of compulsory education in psychiatry on the attitudes of medical students of the fourth year of the Zagreb school of medicine and Osijek school of medicine. We tested attitudes toward psychiatry, psychiatric treatment and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help using questionnaires that were filled out twice, at the beginning of psychiatry placement and at the end of psychiatry placement. Questionnaires were completed by 239 students from the Zagreb school of medicine and Faculty of medicine Osijek (response rate 78.4%). After the placement, students had significantly more positive attitudes about psychiatry and psychiatric treatment, as well as the attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Attitudes towards psychiatry, seeking psychological help and attitude towards psychiatric medication and psychotherapy correlated with the evaluation of the quality of psychiatric education. Additional forms of education in psychiatry should be offered, in order to maintain and increase the impact of education on students' attitudes.

Irradiation treatment for the protection and conservation of cultural heritage artefacts in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katusin-Razem, Branka; Razem, Dusan; Braun, Mario

2009-01-01

The application of irradiation treatment for the protection of cultural heritage artefacts in Croatia was made possible by the development of radiation processing procedures at the Radiation Chemistry and Dosimetry Laboratory of the Ruder Boskovic Institute. After the upgrading of the 60 Co gamma irradiation source in the panoramic irradiation facility in 1983 it became possible to perform both research and pilot plant-scale irradiations for sterilization, pasteurization and decontamination of various materials, including medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and foods, but also for disinfestation of cultural heritage artefects. The demand for irradiation treatment of cultural heritage objects has particularly increased as the increasing number of these objects, especially polychromic wooden sculptures, were requiring salvation, restauration and conservation as a consequence of direct and indirect damages inflicted to them during the war in Croatia, 1991-1995. The irradiation facility at the Ruder Boskovic Institute is briefly described and an account of its fifteen years' activities in the irradiation treatment of cultural heritage objects is given. Some case studies performed in cooperation with the Croatian Conservation Institute and other interested parties are presented, as well as some cases of protective and curative treatments for disinfestation and decontamination. International cooperations and activities are also mentioned.

Irradiation treatment for the protection and conservation of cultural heritage artefacts in Croatia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katusin-Razem, Branka [Department of Chemistry, Ruder Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka cesta 54, P.O. Box 180, HR-10002 Zagreb (Croatia)], E-mail: brazem@irb.hr; Razem, Dusan [Department of Chemistry, Ruder Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka cesta 54, P.O. Box 180, HR-10002 Zagreb (Croatia); Braun, Mario [Croatian Conservation Institute, Zagreb (Croatia)

2009-07-15

The application of irradiation treatment for the protection of cultural heritage artefacts in Croatia was made possible by the development of radiation processing procedures at the Radiation Chemistry and Dosimetry Laboratory of the Ruder Boskovic Institute. After the upgrading of the {sup 60}Co gamma irradiation source in the panoramic irradiation facility in 1983 it became possible to perform both research and pilot plant-scale irradiations for sterilization, pasteurization and decontamination of various materials, including medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and foods, but also for disinfestation of cultural heritage artefects. The demand for irradiation treatment of cultural heritage objects has particularly increased as the increasing number of these objects, especially polychromic wooden sculptures, were requiring salvation, restauration and conservation as a consequence of direct and indirect damages inflicted to them during the war in Croatia, 1991-1995. The irradiation facility at the Ruder Boskovic Institute is briefly described and an account of its fifteen years' activities in the irradiation treatment of cultural heritage objects is given. Some case studies performed in cooperation with the Croatian Conservation Institute and other interested parties are presented, as well as some cases of protective and curative treatments for disinfestation and decontamination. International cooperations and activities are also mentioned.

Attitudes of adolescents towards sexual health in three cities from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Science.gov (United States)

Puharić, D; Borovac, J A; Petrov, B

2015-09-01

This study aimed to determine the attitudes of adolescents towards sexual health and to assess their understanding of contraception use and knowledge about sexually transmitted infections in three ethnically different areas of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. A total of 146 adolescent high school students between 17 and 19 years of age from three different cities were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The participants completed two anonymous questionnaires: one that measured attitudes towards safe sex practice and another that measured contraception and general sexual health knowledge. Shame was identified as the main factor why adolescents did not seek information about sexual health and contraception. On average, respondents correctly answered only 35% of questions regarding sexual health. Adolescents from East Mostar, with a predominantly Bosniak population, had more positive attitudes towards safe sex and showed less contraception knowledge in comparison to their colleagues from two cities in Croatia. Our study design might be burdened by socially desirable reporting and other biases inherent to the survey design. Adolescents from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, countries that experienced war and are still undergoing post-communist socio-economic transition, generally did not have adequate knowledge with respect to safe sex lifestyles. Respondents had major problems identifying sexually transmitted infections and their knowledge about contraception was insufficient. Providing care for adolescent populations should address specificities in local ethnical and socio-economical circumstances. There is a need for further studies to determine social, cultural and religious factors influencing the knowledge and attitudes towards sexual health in order to provide most effective interventions for specific adolescent populations. © 2014 International Council of Nurses.

Projections of the Population of the Republic of Croatia to the Year 2031: Can Migration Alleviate Future Negative Trends?

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Snježana Mrđen

2004-03-01

Full Text Available The paper presents middle duration projections of Croatia’s population, until the year 2031, determined via the cohort-component method. It outlines eight variants derived from supposed hypotheses in regard to changing birth, migration and death rates. Differences in the variants are exclusively differences in birth and migration rates, since the assumptions in regard to the death rates are the same in all the variants. The corrected estimate of the population on January 1st 2001, according to the most recent census, served as the base population. The results of the projections indicate that in the next thirty years the overall and the natural population reduction of Croatia will continue, and at the end of the period (2031 the population will be demographically older than at the start (2001. The variants differ only in relation to the intensity (i.e. swiftness of the aging process, yet the direction remains the same. Thus, in the variant that assumes a positive migration balance, the process of aging would be somewhat slower. The only variant that assumes a constant proportion of young people (on the 2001 level, gradual demographic growth and at the end of the period a larger population than in 2001, is the variant based on a high birth rate and positive migration. The impact of migration is very important for future demographic processes. Namely, in the short run, migration cannot change the direction of demographic processes, but it can lessen already existing negative trends.

Marketing Innovations in Croatia

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Ljiljana Božić

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to analyze the introduction of marketing innovations by companies in Croatia. This study provides an insight into the innovativeness with regard to the introduction of marketing innovations. It explores the presence of marketing innovations in general and the introduction of four types of marketing innovation (significant changes to the aesthetic design or packaging, new media or techniques for product promotion, new methods for product placement or sales channels and new methods of pricing goods or services. The changes in all four elements of the marketing mix are described. The paper also explores the extent to which the introduction of marketing innovation is related to the companies that introduce other types of innovations.

Library Consortia in Croatia

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Maja Jokic

2001-07-01

Full Text Available The problem of the increasing number of information sources and their costs as well as more demanding users on the one side, and limited financial resources on the other, has not avoided Croatia. One of the attempts to deal with this state of affairs is associating libraries into consortia. A consortium could, through cooperative cataloguing, help optimise the processing of library material, it could help in solving the problem of rational ways of continuous education of staff and users and coordinate acquisition policy through common purchasing of information resources, from bibliographic databases to electronic journals under various licensing conditions. This last aspect of cooperation in a consortium will be dealt with in detail in the text that follows.

Reproductive rights and the state in Serbia and Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Shiffman, Jeremy; Skrabalo, Marina; Subotic, Jelena

2002-02-01

The global reproductive rights movement arose in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a challenge to the population control paradigm that has dominated family planning policy for almost half a century. The essence of the challenge is to place women into the center of population discussions as subjects, not objects of policy, and to reorient family planning and health programs toward meeting the broad reproductive health needs of individuals, rather than the narrow population control objectives of states. Reproductive rights advocates argue that the use of family planning programs for developmentalist-oriented population control objectives is illegimate, and inevitably relegates women to the status of depersonalized policy "targets". The cases of Croatia and Serbia, the two dominant partners in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, offer interesting twists on these reproductive rights issues. In Croatia and Serbia, unlike in many nations, the governments are deliberately seeking to increase rather than decrease fertility levels. Moreover, the objective concerns identity politics, more so than development: the governments have encouraged increased fertility to safeguard the survival of their nations and to strengthen national power amidst threatening internal and external environments of ethnic conflict. In this paper, we examine the dynamics of pro-natalist fertility policy in Croatia and Serbia. We do so with a view to explaining why, despite similarities, the two have followed divergent paths. While reproductive rights violations have occurred in both nations, they have been markedly higher in Serbia than Croatia. To explain this divergence we look at a series of sociopolitical factors, including the space available for groups to mobilize in each political system; the degree of nationalistic extremism present in the discourse of central political leaders; and perceptions of threats and opportunities in external geopolitical environments. In conducting this

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2010-12-03

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Earthquake history of the Republic of Ragusa (today Dubrovnik, Croatia) (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Albini, P.; Rovida, A.; Locati, M.

2009-12-01

Among the towns constellating the Dalmatian coast, Ragusa (today Dubrovnik, Croatia), stands out, both because of its location in the middle of the Eastern Adriatic coast and its long-lasting, independent history of a Modern Age town and its small coastal territory. An important intelligence crossroads, squeezed as it was in between powerful and influential neighbours, such as the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice, in its history (1358-1808) the Republic of Ragusa did experience heavily damaging earthquakes. We narrate the story of these earthquakes, which were recorded in the historical documentation of the Republic (today stored at the State Archives of Dubrovnik - Drzavni arhiv u Dubrovniku) as well as in documents from officers of other Mediterranean countries and letters of individuals. Of special note is the 6 April 1667 earthquake, which inflicted a permanent scar on the Republic. The earthquake's direct effects and their consequences caused a serious financial crisis, so critical that it took over 50 years for Ragusa to recover. This large earthquake is reappraised on the basis of newly investigated sources, and effects of the damage within the city walls are detailed. A seismic history of Ragusa is finally proposed, supported by full-text coeval records.

Croatia energy planning and Kyoto Protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duic, Neven; Juretic, Franjo; Zeljko, Mladen; Bogdan, Z.

2005-01-01

Croatia as an Annex I country of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and a country that has pledged in the Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce its GHG emissions by 5% will have to envisage a new energy strategy. Compared to the energy consumption collapse in some transitional countries, Croatia has passed through a relatively short-term reduction of GHG emissions since 1990 because of higher energy efficiency of its pretransition economy. It is expected that in case of baseline scenario, it will breach the Kyoto target in 2003. Several scenarios of power generation are compared from the point of view of GHG emissions. The cost-effective scenario expects a mixture of coal and gas fired power plants to be built to satisfy the new demand and to replace the old power plants that are being decommissioned. More Kyoto friendly scenario envisages forcing the compliance with the Protocol with measures only in power generation sector by the construction of mainly zero emission generating capacity in the future, while decommissioning the old plants as planned, and is compared to the others from the GHG emissions point of view. The conclusion is that by measures tackling only power generation, it will not be possible to keep GHG emission under the Kyoto target level. The case of including the emissions from Croatian owned power plants in former Yugoslavia is also discussed

Climate Protection and Employment in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potocnik, V.

2015-01-01

One of the largest problem in Croatia are high rate of unemployment and climate protection with mitigation of consequences from climate changes. These two problems are closely related and the main connection is energy industry, as the largest cause of climate change because of greenhouse gases emissions from fossil fuels combustion. The most important measures of climate protection in energy industry are increase in energy efficiency (ENEF) and giving priority to renewable energy sources (RES) projects over fossil fuels combustion projects. Other than contributing to climate protection and mitigating the consequences from climate changes, ENEF and RES have other advantages over fossil fuel combustion projects. That is notably larger specific domestic employability of investment in ENEF and RES, regarding fossil fuels. Moreover, the import of fossil fuels is reduced, which fixes foreign trade balance sheet and reduces Croatian foreign debt and increases energy security. Wider application of ENEF and RES is dealing with a lot of obstacles, e.g. resistance from suppliers, which have smaller revenues and sell less energy because of expansion of ENEF and RES. There are multiple methods of dealing with such obstacles. Countries that put ENEF and RES in their energy policy focus, are dealing easier with crisis, with minimum unemployment rates. Regardless of results of COP21 in Paris in December 2015, Croatia would benefit from orientation to rapid development and implementation of ENEF and RES. (author).

The Role of Economic and Political Measures on the Palliation of Poverty in Croatia

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Predrag Bejaković

2005-03-01

Full Text Available The paper considers measures for palliating poverty in Croatia. After an introductory account, poverty is defined, and a very brief description of the situation in Croatia is given. In the sequel, attention is devoted to the encouragement of economic growth, the creation of greater opportunities for employment, the enhancement of human capital, an effective welfare system and well-oriented targeting of benefits to groups that need assistance, decentralization, the restraining of corruption and the development of institutions. The paper concludes with some final considerations and proposals.

HIV risks and HIV prevention among female sex workers in two largest urban settings in Croatia, 2008-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Štulhofer, Aleksandar; Landripet, Ivan; Božić, Jasmina; Božičević, Ivana

2015-01-01

Harm reduction-based HIV prevention has been in place among female sex workers (FSWs) in Croatia for more than a decade. However, little is known about how well the existing programs meet the needs of FSWs in an environment where sex work remains criminalized and highly stigmatized. This study aims to assess changes in FSWs' vulnerability to HIV infection in the 2008-2014 period. Using convenience samples of FSWs in Croatia's two largest urban settings, behavioral data were collected in 2007-2008 and 2014. Outreach workers interviewed 154 FSWs in the first wave of the survey and 158 in the second. The period under observation was characterized by a stable prevalence of most HIV-relevant risk behaviors and experiences. Significant changes in client-based victimization and HIV knowledge were observed only among FSWs in the capital city. Substantial and mostly sustained levels of sexual and nonsexual victimization call for more research into the limits of the current behavior-based harm reduction approach to HIV prevention in the country.

Five year survival analysis of an oxidised zirconium total knee arthroplasty.

Science.gov (United States)

Holland, Philip; Santini, Alasdair J A; Davidson, John S; Pope, Jill A

2013-12-01

Zirconium total knee arthroplasties theoretically have a low incidence of failure as they are low friction, hard wearing and hypoallergenic. We report the five year survival of 213 Profix zirconium total knee arthroplasties with a conforming all polyethylene tibial component. Data was collected prospectively and multiple strict end points were used. SF12 and WOMAC scores were recorded pre-operatively, at three months, at twelve months, at 3 years and at 5 years. Eight patients died and six were "lost to follow-up". The remaining 199 knees were followed up for five years. The mean WOMAC score improved from 56 to 35 and the mean SF12 physical component score improved from 28 to 34. The five year survival for failure due to implant related reasons was 99.5% (95% CI 97.4-100). This was due to one tibial component becoming loose aseptically in year zero. Our results demonstrate that the Profix zirconium total knee arthroplasty has a low medium term failure rate comparable to the best implants. Further research is needed to establish if the beneficial properties of zirconium improve long term implant survival. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nuclear power as an option in electrical generation planning for Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feretic, D.; Tomsic, Z.; Cavlina, N.; Kovacevic, T.

2000-01-01

The expected increase of electricity consumption in the next two decades, if covered mainly by domestic production, will require roughly 4500 MW of new installed capacity. The question is which resource mix would be optimal for the future power plants. Taking into account lack of domestic resources for electricity generation, current trends in the European energy markets, and environmental impact of various energy technologies, it seems reasonable for Croatia to keep the nuclear option open in the future energy planning. In line with that conclusion, this paper analyzes how the introduction of nuclear power plants would influence future power system expansion plans in Croatia, and the possibility to meet the Kyoto requirement. The effects of CO 2 emission tax and external costs on the optimal capacity mix and the emissions levels are also examined. (author)

DEPOSITS AND MINING POTENTIAL OF BENTONITE IN CROATIA

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Mario Klanfar

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Bentonite is one of the materials that is planed to be used for buffering and backfilling in spent nuclear fuel repositories, within deep crystalline rock. There are several locations in Croatia that bentonite deposits and occurrences are found on. Some were exploited in past, and others were more or less explored. This paper presents overview of bentonite deposits, basic properties and potential resources, and mining practices in Croatia. Largest exploited deposits are found in area of Poljanska luka, Gornja Jelenska and Bednja. Surface and underground methods (drift and fill, sublevel caving were used during exploitation. In the area of Svilaja and Lika are found potentially valuable deposits that were never exploited. Montmorilonite content ranges form 20-50% to 57-89%. Most deposits contain bentonite beds with thickness 0,4-1,6 m, and have plunge 10°-30°. Few exceptions are nearly horizontal and thick more than 5 m and even 12 m. One is declined at 70° and up to 40m thick. Proven reserves are about 2,3 Mt with some level of uncertainty. Average production per mine during exploitation period can be assumed to be several thousands t/y.

Investigating Parents' Attitudes towards Digital Technology Use in Early Childhood: A Case Study from Croatia

OpenAIRE

Nives MIKELIĆ PRERADOVIĆ; Gordana LEŠIN; Mirjana ŠAGUD

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate perceptions of parents in Croatia towards advantages and disadvantages of computer use in general as well as their children's computer use and to reveal parents' concerns and opinions about digital technology (DT) education in kindergarten. The paper reports on research findings from one of the large public kindergartens in the capital city of Croatia. A total of 152 parents of the children aged 3 to 7 enrolled at this early childhood education institut...

To Use or Not to Use: Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software Usage among Early-Career Sociologists in Croatia

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Petra Rodik

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this article we critically analyse the usage of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS among early-career sociology researchers in Croatia. In Croatia, the CAQDAS community is very small and is dominated by problems of great expectations coming from early-career researchers. This is elaborated through a case study that addresses issues of spread and availability of CAQDAS, opportunity for its usage, reasons why early-career researchers decide to use it or not and grounds for their decisions for use of a particular software package. The perceived advantages and limitations of CAQDAS are analysed and some misconceptions about CAQDAS are contextualised and related to the dominant quantitative research framework in Croatian sociology. The broadening of the number of qualitative researchers in the sociological community in Croatia, together with more educational programmes on CAQDAS, which would highlight reflexive usage of software, open perspectives for strengthening of qualitative research in Croatia. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1501127

Transparency and public accessibility of clinical trial information in Croatia: how it affects patient participation in clinical trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Šolić, Ivana; Stipčić, Ana; Pavličević, Ivančica; Marušić, Ana

2017-06-15

Despite increased visibility of clinical trials through international trial registries, patients often remain uninformed of their existence, especially if they do not have access to adequate information about clinical research, including the language of the information. The aim of this study was to describe the context for transparency of clinical trials in Croatia in relation to countries in Central and Eastern Europe, and to assess how informed Croatian patients are about clinical trials and their accessibility. We assessed the transparency of clinical trials from the data available in the public domain. We also conducted an anonymous survey on a convenience sample of 257 patients visiting two family medicine offices or an oncology department in south Croatia, and members of national patients' associations. Despite legal provisions for transparency of clinical trials in Croatia, they are still not sufficiently visible in the public domain. Among countries from Central and Eastern Europe, Croatia has the fewest number of registered trials in the EU Clinical Trials Registry. 66% of the patients in the survey were aware of the existence of clinical trials but only 15% were informed about possibilities of participating in a trial. Although 58% of the respondents were willing to try new treatments, only 6% actually participated in a clinical trial. Only 2% of the respondents were aware of publicly available trial registries. Our study demonstrates that there is low transparency of clinical trials in Croatia, and that Croatian patients are not fully aware of clinical trials and the possibilities of participating in them, despite reported availability of Internet resources and good communication with their physicians. There is a need for active policy measures to increase the awareness of and access to clinical trials to patients in Croatia, particularly in their own language.

Five-year risk of interval-invasive second breast cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Janie M; Buist, Diana S M; Houssami, Nehmat; Dowling, Emily C; Halpern, Elkan F; Gazelle, G Scott; Lehman, Constance D; Henderson, Louise M; Hubbard, Rebecca A

2015-07-01

Earlier detection of second breast cancers after primary breast cancer (PBC) treatment improves survival, yet mammography is less accurate in women with prior breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to examine women presenting clinically with second breast cancers after negative surveillance mammography (interval cancers), and to estimate the five-year risk of interval-invasive second cancers for women with varying risk profiles. We evaluated a prospective cohort of 15 114 women with 47 717 surveillance mammograms diagnosed with stage 0-II unilateral PBC from 1996 through 2008 at facilities in the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. We used discrete time survival models to estimate the association between odds of an interval-invasive second breast cancer and candidate predictors, including demographic, PBC, and imaging characteristics. All statistical tests were two-sided. The cumulative incidence of second breast cancers after five years was 54.4 per 1000 women, with 325 surveillance-detected and 138 interval-invasive second breast cancers. The five-year risk of interval-invasive second cancer for women with referent category characteristics was 0.60%. For women with the most and least favorable profiles, the five-year risk ranged from 0.07% to 6.11%. Multivariable modeling identified grade II PBC (odds ratio [OR] = 1.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.15 to 3.31), treatment with lumpectomy without radiation (OR = 3.27, 95% CI = 1.91 to 5.62), interval PBC presentation (OR = 2.01, 95% CI 1.28 to 3.16), and heterogeneously dense breasts on mammography (OR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.01 to 2.36) as independent predictors of interval-invasive second breast cancers. PBC diagnosis and treatment characteristics contribute to variation in subsequent-interval second breast cancer risk. Consideration of these factors may be useful in developing tailored post-treatment imaging surveillance plans. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved

PUBLIC OPINION ON NECESSITY FOR CONSTRUCTION OF REPOSITORY IN THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

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Ana Mostečak

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research was to examine the familiarity of the Croatian citizens with the issue of radioactive waste management, their opinion on the idea of building a radioactive waste landfill in the Republic of Croatia, potential concern and its determinants. The research was conducted on a sample of 447 Croatian citizens using a questionnaire designed for the purpose of the research. Results were processed and interpreted depending on the gender, age, educational level and urbanization of the area the examinees live in. The results have shown that the younger examinees support the use of nuclear energy as well as most of the male examinees, while the examinees older than 24 and the female examinees think the opposite. For the residents of Zagreb, the use of nuclear energy isn’t justified, nor is the idea of building a landfill in the Republic of Croatia. In general, a negative stance towards building the landfill in Croatia is shared by half of the total number of examinees. The main causes of concern to the citizens are: the threat to human health and the safety of the environment (the paper is published in Croatian.

Ethnobotanical knowledge of the Istro-Romanians of Zejane in Croatia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pieroni, A.; Giusti, M.E.; Munz, H.; Lenzarini, C.; Turkovic, G.; Turkovic, A.

2003-01-01

An ethno-pharmacognostic survey was carried out in one of the smallest ethnic and linguistic groups in Europe: the Istro-Romanians of the village of Zejane (in Croatia), which has a population of approximately 140 persons, mainly elderly. Using an intensive field participant observation methodology,

Energy demand modelling and GHG emission reduction: case study Croatia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pukšec, Tomislav; Mathiesen, Brian Vad; Novosel, Tomislav

2013-01-01

In the light of new European energy-climate package and its measures for increasing security of supply, decreasing the impact on environment and stimulating sustainable development with special emphasis on job creation and regional growth, Croatia as a future EU member state, needs to reconsider ...

The 10th Joint Meeting on Medicinal Chemistry (JMMC 2017) Held in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Perković, Ivana; Stepanić, Višnja; Marković, Vesna Gabelica

2018-01-08

The Croatian Chemical Society was established in 1926 and has developed over the decades into a society that actively supports all chemical activities in Croatia. The Society has eight divisions, the youngest of which, the Division of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, was established in 2012 and immediately became a member of the European Federation of Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC). The mission of the Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry Division is the promotion and development of scientific, professional, and educational activities within the medicinal chemistry community in Croatia, as well as to build partnerships and collaborations with other primarily EU-based medicinal chemistry societies. In Croatia, medicinal chemistry research is ongoing at several institutes, including the University of Zagreb (Faculty of Science, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, and Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology), national institutes of science (Ruđer Bošković Institute), and private-sector drug discovery companies (CRO Fidelta Ltd.). In order to effectively exchange knowledge, ideas, and scientific results, Croatian medicinal chemists meet twice annually. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON RETAILING IN CROATIA

OpenAIRE

Sandra Mrvica MAĐARAC; Višnja BARTOLOVIĆ; Matej GALIĆ

2017-01-01

Trade is one of the leading sectors of the Croatian economy, which has undergone significant changes under the influence of globalization over the last decade. According to Central Bureau of Statistics in Croatia about 16 % of all employees work in trade business, and more than a quarter of business entities are registered in this sector. Therefore the trade has a significant share in Croatian GDP creation. Globalization is considered an important factor of economic development around the wor...

Data from "Cohort differences in big five personality factors over a period of 25 years"

OpenAIRE

Smits, I.A.M.; Dolan, C.; Vorst, H.C.M.; Wicherts, J.M.; Timmerman, M.E.

2013-01-01

This data set comprises of scores of 8,954 psychology freshmen from the University of Amsterdam (1982-2007) on the ‘Vijf PersoonlijkheidsFactoren Test’ or 5PFT developed by Elshout and Akkerman, which is an instrument to measure the Big Five personality factors Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience. Data were collected during the yearly freshmen-testing program from 1982-2007 and include scores at the level of 70 items that can be used in stud...

Academic Marginalism in Western Balkans: The Case of Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Brajkovic, Lucia

2016-01-01

This qualitative study relies on document analysis and in-depth, open-ended interviews with university leaders and government officials in a post-socialist and a recent European Union entrant country, Croatia. The study seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of the Croatian academic sector, as well as to unpack the top academic officials'…

Impressions That Last: Particularly Negative and Positive Experiences Reported by Parents Five Years after the End of a Child's Successful Cancer Treatment or Death.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisa Ljungman

Full Text Available To describe the experience of parenting a child diagnosed with cancer by examining particularly negative and positive experiences reported by parents of childhood cancer survivors and parents of children lost to cancer.168 parents (88 mothers, 80 fathers participated. Data were collected five years after the end of successful treatment or the child's death. The parents' experiences were identified by open-ended semi-structured questions about particularly negative and positive experiences of the child's cancer. An inductive approach was used in which the manifest verbal content of the answers was analysed using content analysis.The analysis revealed eight categories of negative experience (child late effects; distressing events; healthcare; impaired relationships; long-term psychological consequences; own reactions; surrounding institutions; the fact that the child got cancer and seven categories of positive experience (healthcare; improved relationships; long-term consequences for the child; personal development; support systems; treatment outcome; unexpected joy. The categories were related to past events or to the present situation. The findings indicate variations in experiences between parents of survivors and bereaved parents, and between fathers and mothers, as some experiences were only reported by parents of survivors and some experiences were only reported by mothers.The results highlight the importance of past and present events to parents, and accordingly the long-lasting impact of paediatric cancer on parents. The results also point to the wide range of negative as well as positive experiences involved in parenting a child diagnosed with cancer, and provide a comprehensive understanding of the overall experience for parents of children with cancer. Specifically, the findings give guidance to healthcare providers by illustrating the need to provide healthcare personnel with continuous training in communication skills, offering

Civil partnerships five years on.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Helen; Gask, Karen; Berrington, Ann

2011-01-01

The Civil Partnership Act 2004, which came into force in December 2005 allowing same-sex couples in the UK to register their relationship for the first time, celebrated its fifth anniversary in December 2010. This article examines civil partnership in England and Wales, five years on from its introduction. The characteristics of those forming civil partnerships between 2005 and 2010 including age, sex and previous marital/civil partnership status are examined. These are then compared with the characteristics of those marrying over the same period. Further comparisons are also made between civil partnership dissolutions and divorce. The article presents estimates of the number of people currently in civil partnerships and children of civil partners. Finally the article examines attitudes towards same-sex and civil partner couples both in the UK and in other countries across Europe.

Radiocaesium in uncultivated soil on some locations in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrinec, B; Franic, Z.

2005-01-01

Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health carries out a programme of long-term monitoring of radioactive contamination of human environment in Croatia, which involves investigation of man-made fission radionuclides in soil. Contaminated soil can significantly increase exposure doses due to the indirect contamination of edible plants entering the human food chain. This article reports the specific activity of 1 37C s in soil on two locations in Croatia monitored over the last decade. Soil samples were taken from three different layers, 0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, and 10-15 cm, in the cities of Zagreb and Zadar. A gamma-ray spectrometry system based on a low-level ORTEC Ge(Li) detector (FWHM 1.82 keV at 1.33 MeV) coupled to a computerized data acquisition system was used to determine radiocaesium levels in the samples from their gamma-ray spectra. The exponential decline was found in soil samples collected in Zadar with the estimated ecological half-life of 13.5 years, while no such behaviour was observed in the samples collected near Zagreb. Transient increases in 1 37C s specific activity concentrations in Zagreb soil, such as those in 1997 and 2000, can only be partially explained by a variety of environmental physical factors that naturally fluctuate, which calls for further investigations. As with time radiocaesium signal in undisturbed soils penetrated deeper layers, it would be appropriate to study deeper soil cores in the future. No direct correlation was found between fallout radioactivity and soil radioactivity in the first layer. However, 1 37C s activity concentrations in fallout could now be regarded as no more than background variations, having no deeper impact on the existing caesium levels in soil.(author)

Idaho supplementation studies : five year report : 1992-1996

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walters, Jody P.; Idaho. Dept. of Fish and Game; United States. Bonneville Power Administration. Division of Fish and Wildlife.

1999-01-01

In 1991, the Idaho Supplementation Studies (ISS) project was implemented to address critical uncertainties associated with hatchery supplementation of chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha populations in Idaho. The project was designed to address questions identified in the Supplementation Technical Work Group (STWG) Five-Year-Workplan (STWG 1988). Two goals of the project were identified: (1) assess the use of hatchery chinook salmon to increase natural populations in the Salmon and Clearwater river drainages, and (2) evaluate the genetic and ecological impacts of hatchery chinook salmon on naturally reproducing chinook salmon populations. Four objectives to achieve these goals were developed: (1) monitor and evaluate the effects of supplementation on presmolt and smolt numbers and spawning escapements of naturally produced fish; (2) monitor and evaluate changes in natural productivity and genetic composition of target and adjacent populations following supplementation; (3) determine which supplementation strategies (broodstock and release stage) provide the quickest and highest response in natural production without adverse effects on productivity; and (4) develop supplementation recommendations. This document reports on the first five years of the long-term portion of the ISS project. Small-scale studies addressing specific hypotheses of the mechanisms of supplementation effects (e.g., competition, dispersal, and behavior) have been completed. Baseline genetic data have also been collected. Because supplementation broodstock development was to occur during the first five years, little evaluation of supplementation is currently possible. Most supplementation adults did not start to return to study streams until 1997. The objectives of this report are to: (1) present baseline data on production and productivity indicators such as adult escapement, redd counts, parr densities, juvenile emigrant estimates, and juvenile survival to Lower Granite Dam (lower Snake

BAYESIAN ANALYSIS OF WHITE NOISE LEVELS IN THE FIVE-YEAR WMAP DATA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Groeneboom, N. E.; Eriksen, H. K.; Gorski, K.; Huey, G.; Jewell, J.; Wandelt, B.

2009-01-01

We develop a new Bayesian method for estimating white noise levels in CMB sky maps, and apply this algorithm to the five-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data. We assume that the amplitude of the noise rms is scaled by a constant value, α, relative to a pre-specified noise level. We then derive the corresponding conditional density, P(α | s, C l , d), which is subsequently integrated into a general CMB Gibbs sampler. We first verify our code by analyzing simulated data sets, and then apply the framework to the WMAP data. For the foreground-reduced five-year WMAP sky maps and the nominal noise levels initially provided in the five-year data release, we find that the posterior means typically range between α = 1.005 ± 0.001 and α = 1.010 ± 0.001 depending on differencing assembly, indicating that the noise level of these maps are biased low by 0.5%-1.0%. The same problem is not observed for the uncorrected WMAP sky maps. After the preprint version of this letter appeared on astro-ph., the WMAP team has corrected the values presented on their web page, noting that the initially provided values were in fact estimates from the three-year data release, not from the five-year estimates. However, internally in their five-year analysis the correct noise values were used, and no cosmological results are therefore compromised by this error. Thus, our method has already been demonstrated in practice to be both useful and accurate.

First case of Anaplasma platys infection in a dog from Croatia

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Dyachenko Viktor

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background It is known that Anaplasma (A. platys, the causative agent of infectious canine cyclic thrombocytopenia, is endemic in countries of the Mediterranean basin. However, few reports are available from the Balkans. This case report describes a dog, which was imported from Croatia to Germany in May 2010. One month later the dog was presented to a local veterinarian in Germany due to intermittent/recurrent diarrhoea. Diagnostic tests were performed to identify infections caused by Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Hepatozoon canis, Babesia spp., Leishmania spp., Borrelia burgdorferi and/or Dirofilaria immitis. Findings Haematological examination of a blood smear revealed basophilic inclusions in thrombocytes, which were confirmed as A. platys with a species-specific real-time PCR. Additionally, an infection with Babesia (B. vogeli was also detected (PCR and serology. No specific antibodies against Anaplasma antigen were detectable. Although the dog showed no specific clinical signs, thrombocytopenia, anaemia and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP were observed. Sequencing of a 1,348-bp partial ribosomal RNA gene revealed highest homology to A. platys sequences from Thailand, Japan and France. Conclusions A. platys was detected for first time in a dog imported from Croatia. As the dog was also co-infected by B. vogeli, unique serological and haematological findings were recorded. Thrombocytopenia, anaemia and elevated values of C-reactive protein were the laboratory test abnormalities observed in this case. A. platys infections should be considered in dogs coming from Croatia and adjacent regions.

Programme of Preparatory Activities on Launching First Nuclear Power Plant in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jakic, I.; Lebegner, J.; Perovic, N.

2010-01-01

New Croatian energy policy recognizes nuclear energy as solution for rising needs for energy and, thus, opens the possibility to construct first nuclear power plant in Croatia. Within this frame, the Croatian government is developing an implementation programme according to this policy and preparing basis for making decision about construction of nuclear power plant. Croatian parliament is responsible for this decision which is expected by the end of 2012. During this period, stake holders in this project (government, regulatory body and future operator of the plant) have to complete activities of preparatory phase of Croatian Nuclear Energy Programme (CRONEP) project according to methodology recommended by IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). This paper defines these activities and estimate the costs of first, preparatory phase based on previous experience of other countries which finished the phase successfully. Also, it describes the potential role of Croatian utility as stake holder due to its experience as co-owner of Nuclear power plant Krsko.(author).

Twenty-five years of simulator training

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2002-01-01

The first training simulator for nuclear power plant personnel in Germany was commissioned twenty-five years ago. The strategy of training by simulators was developed and pursued consistently and continuously in order to ensure sound training of nuclear power plant personnel. The present thirteen simulators cover a broad range of plants. A systematic training concept also helps to ensure a high level of competence and permanent qualification of plant personnel. The anniversary was marked by a festive event at which Erich K. Steiner read a paper on 'The Importance of Simulator Training', and Professor Dr. Adolf Birkhofer spoke about 'Nuclear Technology Education and Training'. (orig.)

Natural Radioactivity of Thermal Springs in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marovic, G.; Sencar, J.; Cesar, D.

1998-01-01

The Republic of Croatia is rich in thermal and mineral springs, which are widely popular for medical therapy, tourism, recreation, rehabilitation and drinking. Considering the popularity of the spas and the habits of our population to use the beneficial effects of these springs it is of interest to estimate the radiation doses received by patients or tourists staying in the spas. In view of this, the Radiation Protection Unit of the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health in Zagreb has been engaged in a research programme dealing with the natural radioactivity concentration in the Croatian thermal and mineral waters. The aim of this paper was to estimate total natural radioactivity (Ra, Ra decay) in thermal and mineral waters from the several spas in Croatia. On basis of the obtained data the Ra and Ra activity ratio was calculated for each investigated spa. In this study possible effects of natural radioactivity were determined for each radionuclide using a derived concentration (DC) for a group of individuals for municipal drinking water supplies. Values exceeding DC represent radionuclide concentrations for radioactive waste. Total percentage ratio for each spring was also calculated. Since natural radioactivity in some spas exceeds DC value the practise of using these waters should be regularly estimated and monitored in order to avoid any possible health effects. (author)

Croatia's rural areas - renewable energy based electricity generation for isolated grids

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Protic Sonja Maria

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Several Western Balkan states face the consequences of the Yugoslavian war, which left hometowns with dilapidated electricity grid connections, a high average age of power plant capacities and low integration of renewable energy sources, grid bottlenecks and a lack of competition. In order to supply all households with electricity, UNDP Croatia did a research on decentralized supply systems based on renewable energy sources. Decentralized supply systems offer cheaper electricity connections and provide faster support to rural development. This paper proposes a developed methodology to financially compare isolated grid solutions that primarily use renewable energies to an extension of the public electricity network to small regions in Croatia. Isolated grid supply proves to be very often a preferable option. Furthermore, it points out the lack of a reliable evaluation of non-monetizable aspects and promotes a new interdisciplinary approach.

Learning Wellness: A Water Exercise Class in Zagreb, Croatia

Science.gov (United States)

Roberson, Donald N., Jr.

2007-01-01

The research reported in this article investigated the dynamics of a water exercise class with older adults in Zagreb, Croatia. It focused on 3 classes of older swimmers at a community exercise center. A total of 105 participants were asked to complete a short questionnaire. The questionnaire contained items on demographics, use of free time, and…

Co-operation between Slovenia and Croatia in the low- and intermediate level radioactive waste repository project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaller, A.; Lokner, V.; Subasic, D.; Zeleznik, N.; Mele, I.; Tomse, P.

2001-01-01

The paper describes the LILW repository project development in Slovenia and Croatia from the viewpoint of co-operation of national agencies for radioactive waste management - ARAO in Slovenia and APO in Croatia. The project performance, as well as the co-operation itself, are based on the fact that NPP Krsko, sited in Slovenia, is the joint venture facility of both countries, which are consequently obliged to find a proper solution for final disposal of operational and decommissioning radioactive waste generated by the plant. The main aspects of the project development in both countries, such as LILW repository site selection and characterisation, development of repository conceptual design, performance assessment/safety analysis procedures and public participation, are presented in the paper. Based on separate descriptions of the project development in Slovenia and Croatia respectively, the main aspects of co-operation between ARAO and APO are elaborated.(author)

Historical and contemporary population genetics of the invasive western corn rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemic, D; Mikac, K M; Bažok, R

2013-08-01

Classical population genetic analyses were used to investigate populations of the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, in Croatia in 1996 and 2009. The number of alleles was low in both 1996 and 2009; however, more alleles were found in the putative populations surveyed in 2009. Croatia had only 51% of the alleles recorded from the United States and 69% from Europe. However, 10 private (unique) alleles were found in Croatia, which were not found previously in Europe. Most populations were out of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, although no linkage disequilibrium was found. Low to no genetic differentiation was found between population pairwise comparisons in 1996, with a greater level of differentiation found between populations sampled in 2009. Using the program STRUCTURE, a single genetic cluster was found for populations sampled in 1996 and 2009. However, two genetic clusters were detected when the 1996 and 2009 data were combined, indicating significant temporal differentiation. Isolation by distance pattern of gene flow characterized populations sampled in 2009 only when the most distant population of Ogulin (the head of the expansion front) was included in the analysis. When Ogluin was excluded from the 2009 analysis no isolation by distance pattern was found. The possible impact that control practices have had on the population genetics of D. v. virgifera in Croatia from 1996 to 2009 are discussed in light of the temporal genetics differences found.

Daily portraits of five and six-year old boys: the play activity

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Flavia Bignardi da Silva Nunes

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Daily life experiences provide maturity along human development, and the environments in which they occur are essential for this process. These experiences help to build children’s personalities and the way they deal with the world around them. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to understand the occupational behavior of four children aged five to six years old through their mothers’ reports. Methodology: The average time spent with daily activities is described, and playing was a central theme of analysis. We analyzed the preferences, companies and emotional characteristics of the play activity. We used an Activity Clock and semi-structured interviews with the children’s mothers as data collection instruments. Results: The main results show that most of their daily life time is spent with sleep, school and play activities. They indicate that children prefer games that challenge acquisitions that are under construction. Regarding company, these children still have their mothers as a reference to the play activity, but also peers their age or a little older. Conclusion: Play has an important representation in the daily occupational lives of these children and it stands as a key life experience to acquire skills and face challenges.

Louisiana Airport System Plan Five-Year Capital Improvement Program.

Science.gov (United States)

1992-07-01

The Louisiana Airport System Plan (LASP) Five-Year-Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is a development plan for all commercial service, reliever, and general aviation airports in Louisiana. It is a detailed listing of potential projects based on the a...

General RMP Guidance - Chapter 3: Five-Year Accident History

Science.gov (United States)

This involves the reporting of significant accidental releases of one or more of the regulated toxic or flammable substances from a covered process in the five years prior to the submission of an initial or updated Risk Management Plan.

The radioactive contamination level in Croatia by means of radioactive rainwaters, caused by the accident in NPP 'Lenin'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barishicj, D.; Koshuticj, K.; Kvastek, K.; Lulicj, S.; Tuta, J.; Vertachnik, A.; Vrhovac, A.

1987-01-01

In this paper, the radioactive contamination level in Croatia by means of radioactive rainwaters, caused by the accident in NPP 'Lenin', has been described. The results represent the sum of measured and evaluated data, the map of the radioactive contamination in Croatia caused by radioactive rainwaters between April, 28 to May, 20 1986 has been constructed. (author) 3 tabs.; 5 figs

Prevalence of rotavirus among children under five years of age with ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2016-08-16

Aug 16, 2016 ... acute diarrhea in children under five years in Kaduna State, Nige- ria. Hence the need to introduce the vaccines into the childhood immunization program in the country. Keywords: Prevalence, Rotavirus,. Children, Kaduna State, Nigeria. Introduction. Diarrheal disease kills 1.8 million children under five.

Frequency of tuberculosis at autopsies in a large hospital in Zagreb, Croatia: a 10-year retrospective study

Science.gov (United States)

Pavić, Ivana; Radulović, Petra; Bujas, Tatjana; Perić Balja, Melita; Ostojić, Jelena; Baličević, Drinko

2012-01-01

Aim To assess the frequency and forms of pulmonary tuberculosis at autopsy in a high-traffic hospital in the capital city of a country with a low tuberculosis incidence. Methods We performed a retrospective search of autopsy data from the period 2000 to 2009 at Sestre Milosrdnice University Hospital Center, Zagreb, Croatia. We also examined patients’ records and histological slides. Results Of 3479 autopsies, we identified 61 tuberculosis cases, corresponding to a frequency of 1.8%. Active tuberculosis was found in 33 cases (54%), 23 of which (70%) were male. Of the 33 active cases, 25 (76%) were clinically unrecognized and 19 (76%) of these were male. Conclusion Clinically undiagnosed tuberculosis accounted for a substantial proportion of active tuberculosis cases diagnosed at autopsy. Autopsy data may be an important complement to epidemiological data on tuberculosis frequency. PMID:22351578

National survey of pain clinics in Croatia: Organization and services.

Science.gov (United States)

Fidahić, Mahir; Dogan, Katarina; Sapunar, Damir; Puljak, Livia

2015-01-01

To analyze organization and therapeutic procedures administered in tertiary outpatient pain clinics in Croatia. Data about organization of pain clinics, its personnel, equipment, continuing medical education, therapeutic procedures, research activities and relations with pharmaceutical industry were collected using questionnaires. Twenty-two Croatian pain clinics were included in the study. Most of the pain clinics employ exclusively anesthesiologists and nurses. The most frequently prescribed therapeutic procedures in pain clinics were pharmacotherapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, acupuncture and trigger point injections. Almost all pain clinics provide educational material for patients. Most of the pain clinics have regular interactions with pharmaceutical companies. Prescribing decisions were based mostly on information from scientific meetings, research articles and consultations with colleagues. Information sources which are considered to be the gold standard--the systematic reviews of The Cochrane Collaboration--were used less frequently (n=12; 57%) than advertising materials from pharmaceutical companies (n=16; 76%). Few physicians and other pain clinics staff had scientific degrees or academic titles or were involved in a research project. The national study about pain clinics in Croatia pointed out that there is room for improvement of their organization and services. Pain clinics should employ health-care professionals with diverse backgrounds. They should offer treatments backed by the highest-level of scientific evidence. Since pain is a major public health issue, pain clinic staff should engage more in research to contribute to the growing field of pain research, to enhance capacities for pain research in Croatia, to incorporate scientific evidence into their daily decision-making and to enable evidence-based practice. Copyright © 2015 by Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

National survey of pain clinics in Croatia: Organization and services

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Mahir Fidahić

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Objective. To analyze organization and therapeutic procedures administered in tertiary outpatient pain clinics in Croatia. Methods. Data about organization of pain clinics, its personnel, equipment, continuing medical education, therapeutic procedures, research activities and relations with pharmaceutical industry were collected using questionnaires. Results. Twenty-two Croatian pain clinics were included in the study. Most of the pain clinics employ exclusively anesthesiologists and nurses. The most frequently prescribed therapeutic procedures in pain clinics were pharmacotherapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, acupuncture and trigger point injections. Almost all pain clinics provide educational material for patients. Most of the pain clinics have regular interactions with pharmaceutical companies. Prescribing decisions were based mostly on information from scientific meetings, research articles and consultations with colleagues. Information sources which are considered to be the gold standard – the systematic reviews of The Cochrane Collaboration – were used less frequently (n=12; 57% than advertising materials from pharmaceutical companies (n=16; 76%. Few physicians and other pain clinics staff had scientific degrees or academic titles or were involved in a research project. Conclusion. The national study about pain clinics in Croatia pointed out that there is room for improvement of their organization and services. Pain clinics should employ health-care professionals with diverse backgrounds. They should offer treatments backed by the highest-level of scientific evidence. Since pain is a major public health issue, pain clinic staff should engage more in research to contribute to the growing field of pain research, to enhance capacities for pain research in Croatia, to incorporate scientific evidence into their daily decision-making and to enable evidence-based practice.

Environmental restoration and waste management five-year plan, Fiscal years 1994--1998

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) understands that cleaning up the Nation's nuclear-related sites and facilities affects many different segments of the public, ranging from communities near DOE facilities to engineers concerned with developing new technologies to clean up the environment. In an effort to make the Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Five-Year Plan for Fiscal Years (FY) 1994--1998 more responsive to your concerns, DOE invites your comments on the plan. Volume II contains 37 Installation Summaries that provide a synopsis of past, present and future activities of each major installation, and Progress Charts

[Demographic development of Croatia, 1991-1994].

Science.gov (United States)

Lajic, I

1995-01-01

"The demographic development of Croatia in the period 1991-1994, marked by... Serbian aggression, the state of ¿half-war', and the war in Bosnia and Hercegovina, should be described as irregular--its components being determined by the above conditions. This proves especially true concerning forced migrations and their past and future influence on population change. The paper analyzes the insufficiently studied topic of war mortality, as well as various dimensions of the refugee population. It also emphasizes several structural characteristics of the population, particularly its ethnic structure, and the population dynamics in the temporarily occupied territories." (EXCERPT)

Open-end Investment Funds in Croatia

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Bojan Morić Milovanović

2006-03-01

Full Text Available This work discusses investment funds in Croatia, with a particular emphasis on openend investment funds. After a short review of the development of the funds, the perception of the funds is analysed, as are the trends in total assets and in average yields. The degree of concentration of open-end investment funds is shown with statistical measures of concentration (the Gini Coefficient, the Lorenz Curve and concentration ratios. All these indicators show that the concentration is moderate to strong. The greatest yields are given by the equity funds, but these are also the most risky.

Experience Effect in E-Learning Research

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Bing; Xu, WenXia; Ge, Jun

This study is a productivity review on the literature gleaned from SSCI, SCIE databases concerning experience in E-Learning research. The result indicates that the number of literature productions on experience effect in ELearning research is still growing from 2005. The main research development country is Croatia, and from the analysis of the publication year, the number of papers is increasing to the peaking in 2010. And the main source title is British Journal of Educational Technology. In addition the subject area concentrated on Education & Educational Research. Moreover the research focuses on are mainly survey research and empirical research, in order to explore experience effect in E-Learning research. Also the limitations and future research of these research were discussed, so that the direction for further research work can be exploited

Optimal model of economic diplomacy of Republic of Croatia in the contexst of global intelligence revolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zdravko Bazdan

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to point to the fact that economic diplomacy is a relatively new practice in international economics, specifically the expansion of the occurrence of Intelligence Revolution. The history in global relations shows that without economic diplomacy there is no optimal economic growth and social development. It is important to note that economic diplomacy should be important for our country and the political elite, as well as for the administration of Croatian economic subjects that want to compete in international market economy. Comparative analysis are particularly highlighted by French experience. Therefore, Croatia should copy the practice of those countries that are successful in economic diplomacy. And in the curricula - especially of our economic faculties - we should introduce the course of Economic Diplomacy. It is important to note, that in order to form our optimal model of economic diplomacy which would be headed by the President of Republic of Croatia formula should be based on: Intelligence Security Agency (SOA, Intelligence Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Intelligence Service of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and the Intelligence Service of the Ministry of Economy, Labor and Entrepreneurship. Described model would consist of intelligence subsystem with at least twelve components.

[Email in a dedicated headache clinic: experience gained over a five-year period].

Science.gov (United States)

Pedraza, M Isabel; Herrero-Velázquez, Sonia; López-Mesonero, Luis; Ruiz-Piñero, Marina; Posadas, Javier; Guerrero-Peral, Ángel L

2015-06-16

The use of email can facilitate communication between the different levels of an organisation. Our primary care physicians have had an email service in the dedicated headache clinic (DHC) since November 2009, and our aim is therefore to analyse the use of email over that five-year period. Data concerning the emails sent up until October 2014 were collected prospectively. The questions were classified as need for referral to the DHC (group 1), progress made by the cases seen in the DHC (group 2), training in headaches (group 3) or the treatment of the headaches suffered by primary care physicians themselves as patients (group 4). A total of 274 email messages were analysed. Monthly consultations have increased (from 1.5 per month during the first year to 7.5 per month during the fifth). Findings showed that 10.2% of the email messages came from rural health centres and 89.8% were sent from urban health centres. Replies were sent within 2 ± 2.8 days (range: 0-24 days). Altogether 130 consultations were classified as belonging to group 1 (47.4%), in which referral through the normal channel was recommended in 60 cases (46.2%), via the preferential channel in 47 (36.2%) and non-referral was suggested in 23 cases (17.6%). Group 2 included 125 emails (45.7%) and in 80 cases there was no need to make a new appointment or to bring forward the existing one (64%). Thirteen visits (4.7%) were classified into group 3 and six (2.2%) in group 4. Our primary care physicians are using the email of the DHC on an increasingly more frequent basis. Its use makes it possible to detect patients whose appointment -whether the first or a follow-up- needs to be brought forward, as well as allowing issues to be solved without the need for referral. It is effective for the treatment of physicians who themselves have headaches and as a tool for continuing education.

Is Croatia Going to Build a Radioactive Waste Repository?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knapp, Alemka; Levanat, Ivica; Saponja-Milutinovc, Diana

2014-01-01

Site selection process for low and intermediate level radioactive waste repository in Croatia was ended in 1999, nominating Trgovska gora as the potential macrolocation for the facility. Feasibility of the Trgovska gora disposal project was analyzed in a number of studies prepared by APO Ltd. from the mid-nineties up to 2003. An affirmative, though preliminary and largely generic safety assessment was completed. Specific microlocations were selected and analyzed based on literature data (garnished with low-resolution digital satellite pictures), and the best microlocation was tentatively narrowed down to Pavlovo brdo. After 2003, no further activities related to the repository project were undertaken for nearly ten years, until in its public procurement plan for 2013 the Croatian Fund for financing the NPP Krsko decommissioning and waste disposal dedicated over half a million euro to continuation of the project. In general, safe radioactive waste disposal pre-requires establishment of a complex national framework with appropriate functionality and competence; with such a framework established, decisive first steps towards building a repository are to identify potentially suitable locations and to ensure local community consent and cooperation. The rest should mainly be routine. But in Croatia, both lack of proper framework and the project history of indecisiveness may adversely affect further developments. Trgovska gora was designated as the potential location in the national land use plan only after three other potential locations had been dismissed by political decisions based on the largely assumed adverse attitudes of local communities. Repository project now appears to depend on cooperation of a single local community hosting the only potential site. The site has never been visited by any repository project participants, nor has the local community ever been officially contacted in an open and straightforward way, despite the 20-year old history of the project

Potentials and Problems of Internet as a Source of Purchasing Information – Experiences and Attitudes of University Students in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blaženka Knežević

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Gathering information online prior to offline purchase became the com - mon way of using Internet within student population. On the other hand, there are more and more Internet users and online shoppers at all Central European Countries. In the CEE region companies are searching the way how to approach students as a target group via their web sites. The purpose of this research was to explain (1 how student population in Croatia use Internet as a tool for gathering information on products and services and (2 to assess perceived problems and potential of Internet as a retail information source. The paper is based on a primary research – a survey on attitudes of Croatian students towards Internet and online shopping. Results are analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistical method. Discussion of the results brings us to conclusions that there are statistically different attitudes among groups according to gender and according previous experience with the on-line shopping. For illustration: (a males and females differ in assortment that they are choosing and buying online, (b male students have a more positive attitude towards online shopping benefits than female students, and (c online shoppers have more positive attitudes towards security issues than non-online shoppers.

Effect of therapy on five- and ten-year survival of malignant melanoma patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siffnerova; Bustova; Zikmund

1989-01-01

The results are reported of five-year and ten-year survival of malignant melanoma patients treated postoperatively by actinotherapy. In patients where lymph flow was not apparent, 2.5 Gy of daily doses of electron irradiation from a 6-8 MeV betatron were used centred on the scar. The total dose was 60 Gy. Where the lymph flow could be identified, cobalt or cesium sources were used to deliver a total dose of 50 Gy in 2.5 Gy daily. Both five-year and ten-year survival was significantly better than in patients treated with surgery only, without irradiation. 55% of the patients on combined management survived for more than 5 years, 86% of them without relapses. 41% patients survived for 10 years, of which 92% without relapse. In contrast, the corresponding figures for the patients treated with surgery only were 42% and 71% respectively for the five-year survival, and 26% and 70% respectively for the ten-year survival. (L.O.). 3 figs., 2 tabs

Dimensions of health among the elderly in Poland and Croatia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Knurowski, T.; Lazic, D.; van Dijk, J.P.; Geckova, Andrea; Tobiasz-Adamczyk, B.; van den Heuvel, W.J.A.

2004-01-01

On the basis of the WHO definition of health, we aimed at exploring the model of health and identifying the most important dimensions of health among the elderly in two Central European countries: Poland and Croatia. Randomly chosen elderly aged 65-85 from Krakow (Poland) and from Zagreb and some

Some characteristics of social interactions among adolescents in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klarin M

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Mira Klarin,1 Ana Pororokovic,2 Slavica Šimic Šašic,1 Violeta Arnaudova31Department of Teacher and Preschool Teacher Education, University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia; 2Department of Psychology, University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia; 3Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, University of Ciril and Method, Skopje, MacedoniaIntroduction: The bioecological model refers to the basic social needs that a person has satisfied through social interactions. In individualist cultures, the need for independence is emphasized with the aim of self-realization and personal achievement. In collectivist cultures, togetherness is encouraged and it prevails over individuality.Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether there were differences in adolescents (n = 1033 from three different cultural environments (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia with regard to the various aspects of the social interactions and behaviors these adolescents exercise with their parents and friends.Methods: Three groups of questionnaires were used: those that measure family interactions (the quality of family interactions, loneliness in the family, and family influence; those that assess peer interactions (quality of friendships, social loneliness, and influence of friendships; and those that examined behavioral variables (self-esteem, aggression, and prosocialness.Results: Discriminant analysis has shown that there are two significant functions that differentiate subjects from the three different cultural environments. The first discriminant function that adequately discriminates between subjects in all three cultural environments is related to social and family loneliness and the influence of friends. Loneliness in the family, social loneliness, and influence of friends are most prevalent among adolescents in Macedonia and least among adolescents in Croatia. The second function that distinguished adolescents in Croatia from those in the other two cultural

Diversity of carbapenemases in clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae in Croatia--the results of a multicentre study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zujić Atalić, V; Bedenić, B; Kocsis, E; Mazzariol, A; Sardelić, S; Barišić, M; Plečko, V; Bošnjak, Z; Mijač, M; Jajić, I; Vranić-Ladavac, M; Cornaglia, G

2014-11-01

Since the first carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strain was isolated in 2008, Enterobacteriaceae with reduced susceptibility to one or more carbapenems have emerged sporadically in different geographical regions in Croatia. These observations gave rise to a multicenter study on carbapenem resistance in Enterobacteriaceae from Croatia. Fifty-seven carbapenem-non-susceptible strains of Enterobacteriaceae were collected during 2011-2012 from four large hospital centres in Croatia. Overall, 36 strains produced VIM-1 β-lactamase, three produced NDM-1, and one produced KPC-2. A high degree of clonal relatedness was observed in Enterobacter cloacae and Citrobacter freundii strains, in contrast to K. pneumoniae strains. BlaVIM genes were located within class1 integron which contained genes encoding resistance to aminoglycosides (aacA4 ). The study found strong association between blaVIM and qnrB6 and between blaNDM and qnrA6 genes. © 2014 The Authors Clinical Microbiology and Infection © 2014 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Research on user satisfaction with the quality of services in secondary education in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olivera Jurković Majić

2007-12-01

Full Text Available With the arrival of private schools and competition a new situation has arisen in which, due to long-term survival of some schools, it is necessary to consider marketing activities and service quality in the field of secondary education. It is well-known that during their secondary education students are influenced by many persons, among whom the most significant are teachers, other students and parents. Therefore, human relations at school are in the focus of the analysis of student satisfaction. In order to determine the level of student satisfaction with the secondary education service in Croatia as well as the acceptance and the use of marketing principles in Croatian secondary education during May, June and September 2006, research was conducted among students of secondary schools. The size of the sample for this occasion was n = 600 students, with a highly structured questionnaire as the research instrument. Research results have shown average satisfaction of students in Croatia with the cur¬rent level of interaction and of interactive connection in the secondary education system, while also showing that business marketing philosophy has not been implemented sufficiently in secondary education in Croatia.

Analysis of human resources in science and technology in ICT companies–case of Croatia

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Jelena Horvat

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper integrates theories and findings of the level of tertiary educated workforce, the human resources in science and technology and skills that are desirable in employees from in the information and communication technologies (ICT sector. It is important to examine the real situation on the labor market in the ICT sector, which is often referred to as the key to overcoming the crisis and the future of national economy. Basic statistical elements, upon which to predict future demand for human resources in science and technology (HRST, are people who enter tertiary level of education (inputs or are already in the system (throughputs, but until graduation are not considered HRST’s (outputs. Analysis is based on a sample of 56 small companies in ICT sector in Croatia. This paper presents the overview of the situations of human resources in small companies ICT sector in Croatia. Existing literature on HRST, employee’s skills and ICT sector is reviewed in the light of this analysis, in order to better understand current employment structure and desirable competencies of future employees of small companies in the ICT sector in Croatia.

Materialism as a Social Value and Impetus for Intentions to Emigrate from Croatia

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Krešimir Peračković

2016-12-01

unemployed and unskilled has negative demographic consequences, the emigration of highly educated (and already employed experts (brain drain is harmful to an even greater extent, because the socio-economic damage is twofold: first, it lowers developmental potential and quality of life in local communities, and second, investment in the education of those who left becomes futile. Besides these objective circumstances and ”traditional” motives, current emigration may be encouraged by materialism (materialistic values as a latent motive. The aim of this paper was to empirically determine if this is the case. Data for analysis were collected in 2014 by face-to-face survey on a representative sample of adult population of Croatia (N = 1000. Results showed that materialism was relatively low prominent but it had become an evenly distributed (universal value among the population, which means that to a greater extent it varies individually rather than between relevant socio-demographic and status groups. Younger generations are the exception: they are slightly more materialistic and their intentions to emigrate are much more prominent than among older (40 years and over segments of population. Likewise, in the cohorts younger than 40 materialism is a significant and independent predictor of intentions to leave, in comparison with other more or less relevant objective (education level, employment, income, type of dwelling, relatives abroad, marital status, number of children and subjective predictors (satisfaction with one’s own personal standard and general situation in Croatia. Finally, it is concluded (with regard to the relevance of both phenomena in today's Croatian society that relationship between materialism and (intended and actual emigration should be further examined.

Quality of Working Life during the Recession: The Case of Croatia

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Zvonimir Galić

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The quality of working life depends on the extent to which aspects of the job enable employees to satisfy important psychological needs. In this paper we describe two studies exploring the quality of working life in Croatia during the economic crisis that started in 2008. Within the first study, independent samples of employees recruited by psychology students were asked to self-report quality of their jobs on four occasions between 2008 and 2010. In the second study, we tried to replicate the findings of Study 1, using employees drawn from nationally representative samples of citizens between 2008 and 2011. Results of both studies showed that the quality of working life in Croatia deteriorated during the recession. The decline was mainly related to extrinsic job aspects such as adequate pay, fair pay, and job security. The most hardly hit by the recession were lower educated employees.

Is there a potential impact of research and development (R&D policy on health care system development in Croatia?

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Marina Dabić

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Aim Major demographic changes over the last decades, increasingnumber of chronic diseases in population and appearance ofnew infectious diseases together with increasing costs of healthcare are imposing a great burden on health care systems in westernsocieties, including Croatia. The aim of this study is to determinethe amount and directions of investments in research and development(R&D activities in biomedicine and biotechnology thatcould significantly impact the quality and costs of the health carein Croatia in long term.Methods We analyzed relevant publicly available informationmaintained at the web sites of Ministry of Science, Education andSport, Croatian National Institute of Public Health, Croatian Instituteof Technology, The National Foundation for Science, HigherEducation and Technological Development, Unity ThroughKnowledge Fund and Central Bureau of Statistics of the Republicof Croatia. Additionally, the comprehensive literature search wasdone on Medline and SCOPUS, Current Contents and other databases.Results There is a substantial increase in investment of R&D activities(scientific and technological project in the field of biomedicineand biotechnology in Croatia, from various national aswell as international resources. There is an emphasis on appliedresearch funding and encouragement of international collaborationand collaboration with Croatian Diaspora.Conclusion In the future, the results of funded projects couldpossibly lead to various products (e.g. new drug discoveries, newmethodology and technology applications, and thus potentiallysignificantly influence the quality and the costs of health care inCroatia in long term.

Sociohydrology: Where are we five years later?

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Guneralp, I.; Weyand, S.; Guneralp, B.

2017-12-01

Studies exploring the nature of human-water systems and methodologies aiming to integrate social and biophysical cycles have existed long before the term `sociohydrology' was officially introduced in a 2012 article. Despite criticisms since this first publication, the term has promoted research towards a wholistic understanding of the dynamics of coupled human-water systems. The declaration of the 2013-2022 Scientific Decade as Panta Rhei - Everything Flows recognized the importance of interactions and feedbacks between hydrological and social systems: a call to broaden the horizons of sociohydrology. Five years have passed since the field began, and there is a need to analyze the growing body of literature and determine which steps to take next. This study will perform a meta-analysis of the literature pertaining to the field of sociohydrology from its coinage in 2012 until the present year. Our goal is to identify developing trends in the application of the sociohydrologic framework, study foci, criticisms, and the authors behind them. We have obtained 65 publications relating to `sociohydrology' or `socio-hydrology' and 34 additional publications identified solely by the "KeyWords PLUS" function on Web of Science. In addition to independent analyses, we will compare the two datasets for similarities and significant differences. Our interests include the areas of application - both geographically and in subject matter - and authorship diversity among others. These results will supplement the conversation on sociohydrology by discerning how the field has evolved over the past five years. The results will identify shortcomings in the scope of the current literature, potential prevailing biases, and criticisms of the field, in addition to unifying thought and novel application. It will finish by offering a direction for the research community to continue developing.

Secondary standard dosimetry laboratory at the Ruder Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vekic, B.; Ban, R.; Saveta, M.

2006-01-01

The Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory at the Ruder Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia, was installed during the several last years. The installation of this Laboratory was strongly supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through the Technical Cooperation Project (C.R.O. 1/004/; Establishing Calibration Services). Inside the country this Technical Cooperation Project was supported by the State Office for Standardization and Metrology, State Office for Radiation Protection and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia. The Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory at the Ruder Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia was installed in two calibration rooms. The both of these calibration rooms are 9.6 meters long and 6 meters wide. In the both of these calibration rooms the proper air conditioning was installed. The walls of the both calibration rooms are thick enough (1 meter of concrete) and the entrance doors are protected by Pb to protect any radiation hazard in control rooms, in neighbouring rooms and in environment. In the first calibration room, placed in the basement, two sealed sources share the same calibration bench (produced by Hopewell Designs, Inc., USA) between them which is 6 meters long. On one side is Co -60 source of the 30 TBq activity (December 2004) for the calibration of radiotherapy ionizing chambers and the other equipment in the field of high dose rate range. On the other side is irradiation unit consists of 2 sealed sources for radiation protection purposes: (1) Cs-137 source, activity of 740 MBq (February 2004) and (2) Co- 60 source, activity of 185 MBq (February 2004). For this second source three attenuators are provided that give a nominal attenuation of *10, *100 and *1000. In the second calibration room placed just above the first one the X -ray unit (gift from P.T.B., Germany, I.S.O.V.O.L.T. 420, 40 -300 kV, 1-20 mA) is placed. In front of this are: (1.) Aperture Wheel Assembly designed to modify the beam

Analysis of the ECO Test Results for Vehicles in the Republic of Croatia

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Dražen Kovačević

2007-01-01

Full Text Available The work presents the classification of engines for theECO test requirement at the technical inspection of vehicles.The types of harmful components in the raw emission of internalcombustion engine are listed and described, as well asthe possibilities of their reduction. In accordance with theclassification of engines for the ECO test requirements the allowedvalues of harmful components according to the legallystipulated standards in Croatia are given. The study includedthe number of vehicles that passed the ECO test at technicalinspection in 2004 and these were then statistically processedand analyzed according to the type of vehicle, classification ofcar engines for the ECO test requirements and the year ofproduction.

Citizenship Education in Croatia: At the Margins of the System

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Kekez, Anka; Horvat, Martina; Šalaj, Berto

2017-01-01

Purpose: This paper unfolds the ways in which Croatia, as a young post-communist democracy, has aligned its transition and consolidation with the development of education programs that would support the protection of human rights and the creation of a democratic political culture. Design/methodology/approach: By combining the existing studies with…

Prevalence and seasonality of campylobacter infections in the Primorsko - Goranska County (Croatia during 2007

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Brigita Tićac

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Aim To investigate the prevalence of campylobacter infections in the Primorsko-Goranska County(Croatia and find out possible connection between the prevalence and environmental factors (the averagemonthly temperature and rainfall.Methods The data (number of stool samples examined, age and sex of the patients, monthly distributionof isolates and distribution of isolates according to the species from the Laboratory for Diagnostics ofEnteric Infections of the Teaching Institute of Public Health of the Primorsko-Goranska County for theyear 2007 were analysed retrospectively. Meteorological data were obtained from the Croatian Meteorologicaland Hydrological Service and demographical data from the Republic of Croatia - CentralBureau of Statistics.Results During that year 7,105 stool samples were examined for Campylobacter spp. Campylobacterswere found in 561 samples (7.89% but first isolates were identified in 310 cases and among themCampylobacter jejuni was found in 279 (90% and C. coli in 31 (10% cases. The patients were mostlychildren under four years of age (with the incidence of 669.21 cases/100,000 and young adults (20 - 29years what resulted in the incidence of 116.24 cases/100,000. The highest numbers of Campylobacterspp. isolates were seen in July and August but the isolations were still frequent in September and October,which was in a positive correlation with the average monthly temperature (p=0.028, but there wasno correlation with the rainfall (p=0.61.Conclusions Our findings show bimodal age distribution of patients typical for developed countries.Seasonal variation is also noticed but it is not completely consistent with climate factors. Further investigationsof the incidence of campylobacteriosis and connection with the routes of transmission inhumans as well as the causes of seasonality are necessary.

Skin diseases and tattoos: a five-year experience.

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Napolitano, Maddalena; Megna, Matteo; Cappello, Milena; Mazzella, Caterina; Patruno, Cataldo

2017-05-16

Decorative tattooing as a body art form underwent an exponential increase during the last two decades, particularly among teenagers and young adults. Consequently, the number of reported adverse reactions after tattooing has increased. The most frequent reported skin reactions to tattoo include infectious (bacterial, viral, fungal) or inflammatory (allergic contact dermatitis and granulomatous reaction) diseases. Moreover, tattoos can also induce the development of typical skin lesions of pre-existing dermatoses, a phenomenon known as isomorphism reactive or Koëbner phenomenon, which commonly occurs in patients with psoriasis, vitiligo, or lichen planus. A retrospective study analyzing records data of patients attending the Department of Dermatology, University of Naples "Federico II" during 2011-2015 was performed. All cases of tattoorelated or closely located dermatitis were selected. We observed 19 patients (mean age: 26.4 year-old) showing cutaneous conditions related to the practice of tattooing. Allergic contact dermatitis was reported as the most common cutaneous disease linked to tattooing (31.6%), followed by granulomatous reactions (26.3%). These data are consistent with those already reported in literature. Our results highlight the need to develop detailed regulations regarding tattoos practice, used materials, as well as execution procedures in order to limit the outbreak of tattooing related skin diseases.

The restructuring of the fiscal equalization system in Croatia

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Marko Primorac

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to propose a model of fiscal equalization in Croatia. This paper tests the hypothesis of a lack of effectiveness of the existing fiscal equalization model compared to a model that would be based on alleviating the difference in the potential to collect revenue from the personal income tax and surtax. Fiscal inequalities of local government units are determined first under the current equalization system by calculating the Gini coefficients and graphically presented with Lorenz curves. Thereafter, a distribution of equalization grants is simulated based on the new (proposed model. The effectiveness of the proposed model in alleviating the fiscal inequalities is determined in relation to the effectiveness of the current equalization system. It was found that the model based on equalizing the difference in the capacity to collect revenue from the personal income tax and surtax alleviates inequalities in fiscal capacities of local government units much better than the existing system at the same cost. The main conclusion is that the fiscal equalization in Croatia should urgently be redesigned in order to improve efficiency and fairness, but also the transparency and credibility of the equalization system.

Structural changes in dairy business in Croatia

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Teo Vujčić

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Croatia today is in the economy transition process that also includes agriculture aiming to increase production and achieving competitive standard with international and European markets. Currently, domestic cow milk production ensures 80% of annual milk and dairy products requirements with the 20% import. In the period from 1990-1992, during the patriot war, 103000 cows and heifers were destroyed. Since then, Croatia started the gradual process of reorganization of the agricultural private sector including dairy business in order to increase production insensitivity.The agricultural structure of dairy segment is unsatisfactory with only 23.39% of farms holding four or more heifers. Households with 3 cows per farm dominate with average real estate of 0.10-3.0 acres.Changes in milk production (1990-2003 are reflected in the decrease of the number of breeding cattle – index 56.13%, and decrease of milk market producers from 65 000 to 65 151. Never the less, positive trends towards stabilization in milk production (2003 – 642 mil litres and annual milk intake increased from 342 mil litres in 1990 to 472 mil litres in 2003 (index 138.08% can be noticed. Changes in the structure of milk producers show certain positive movements as 23.39% of producers have 53.40% cows and respectively participation in milk production and buy off. Until 2008, with determined development conditions, cow milk production can increase for 42% and from 2703 litres to average of 4000 litres per dairy cow.

Card products market in the Republic of Croatia

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Ivana Šučur

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Card business in the Republic of Croatia started to develop more than 30 years ago in the form of non-bank card products, issued by American Express and Diners Club global payment systems. These card products were defined as standard charge cards and had been the only card products present in the market until bank cards appeared about ten years ago. The situation changed completely when banks started to enter the market as active participants in the card business. In co-operation with bank global payment systems, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa International, banks have issued several millions of various cards in just a few years, while non-bank issuers have followed the same trend with new card products. This paper explores the current situation in the domestic market; it determines who the cardholders of particular products are, which products they are familiar with, whether they use them or not and for what reason. Cardholders’ opinions, attitudes and preferences towards existing products have been explored, as well as the benefits they would like to get. The results obtained imply that cardholders are familiar with all bank and non-bank card brands, but that they use mostly those which provide them with specific benefits. Therefore, instead of focusing on providing more similar products, issuers should concentrate on designing differentiated products that have been tailored to cardholders’ real needs.

Distribution of trace elements in the coastal sea sediments of Maslinica Bay, Croatia

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Mikulic, Nenad; Orescanin, Visnja; Elez, Loris; Pavicic, Ljiljana; Pezelj, Durdica; Lovrencic, Ivanka; Lulic, Stipe

2008-02-01

Spatial distributions of trace elements in the coastal sea sediments and water of Maslinica Bay (Southern Adriatic), Croatia and possible changes in marine flora and foraminifera communities due to pollution were investigated. Macro, micro and trace elements’ distributions in five granulometric fractions were determined for each sediment sample. Bulk sediment samples were also subjected to leaching tests. Elemental concentrations in sediments, sediment extracts and seawater were measured by source excited energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). Concentrations of the elements Cr, Cu, Zn, and Pb in bulk sediment samples taken in the Maslinica Bay were from 2.1 to over six times enriched when compared with the background level determined for coarse grained carbonate sediments. A low degree of trace elements leaching determined for bulk sediments pointed to strong bonding of trace elements to sediment mineral phases. The analyses of marine flora pointed to higher eutrophication, which disturbs the balance between communities and natural habitats.

RHAGOLETIS COMPLETA (DIPTERA; TEPHRITIDAE) DISTRIBUTION, FLIGHT DYNAMICS AND INFLUENCE ON WALNUT KERNEL QUALITY IN THE CONTINENTAL CROATIA

OpenAIRE

Božena Barić; Ivana Pajač Živković; Dinka Matošević; Milorad Šubić; Erzsébet Voigt; Miklós Tóth

2015-01-01

Walnut husk fly (WHF), Rhagoletis completa Cresson 1929 is an invasive species spreading quickly and damaging walnuts in Croatia and neighbouring countries. We researched distribution of this pest in the continental part of Croatia, flight dynamics in Međimurje County and its influence on quality of walnut kernels. CSALOMON®PALz traps were used for monitoring the spread and flight dynamics of R. completa. Weight and the protein content of kernels and the presence of mycotoxin contamination we...

The 2015 Five-yearly review: diversity in the spotlight

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Staff Association

2014-01-01

Introduction As mentioned in Echo 201, with the Council Decision of last June the CERN 2015 five-yearly review has formally begun. Following the procedure defined in Annex A1 of the Staff Rules and Regulations CERN will thus review its financial and social conditions that should enable it to recruit from all its Member States, and retain, staff of the highest competence and integrity necessary to perform its mission. In addition, these conditions should increase the attractiveness of CERN in all Member States and motivate staff of all ages and all occupations throughout their careers. Annex A1 stipulates that a five-yearly review must include basic salaries (stipends for Fellows and subsistence allowances for associated members of the personnel) and, optionally, may include any other financial or social conditions. For this optional part of the 2015 exercise, the CERN career structure and measures to improve diversity were chosen. Towards a better diversity policy The analysis of the 2013 Staff Associat...

Epidemiology of hepatitis C in Croatia in the European context.

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Vilibic-Cavlek, Tatjana; Kucinar, Jasmina; Kaic, Bernard; Vilibic, Maja; Pandak, Nenad; Barbic, Ljubo; Stevanovic, Vladimir; Vranes, Jasmina

2015-08-28

We analyzed prevalence, risk factors and hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype distribution in different population groups in Croatia in the context of HCV epidemiology in Europe, with the aim to gather all existing information on HCV infection in Croatia which will be used to advise upon preventive measures. It is estimated that 35000-45000 of the Croatian population is chronically infected with HCV. Like in other European countries, there have been changes in the HCV epidemiology in Croatia over the past few decades. In some risk groups (polytransfused and hemodialysis patients), a significant decrease in the HCV prevalence was observed after the introduction of routine HCV screening of blood/blood products in 1992. Injecting drug users (IDUs) still represent a group with the highest risk for HCV infection with prevalence ranging from 29% to 65%. Compared to the prevalence in the Croatian general population (0.9%), higher prevalence rates were found in prison populations (8.3%-44%), human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients (15%), persons with high-risk sexual behavior (4.6%) and alcohol abusers (2.4%). Low/very low prevalence was reported in children and adolescents (0.3%) as well as in blood donors (0%-0.009%). In addition, distribution of HCV genotypes has changed due to different routes of transmission. In the general population, genotypes 1 and 3 are most widely distributed (60.4%-79.8% and 12.9%-47.9%, respectively). The similar genotype distribution is found in groups with high-risk sexual behavior. Genotype 3 is predominant in Croatian IDUs (60.5%-83.9%) while in the prison population genotypes 3 and 1 are equally distributed (52.4% and 47.6%). Data on HCV prevalence and risk factors for transmission are useful for implementation of preventive measures and HCV screening.

A Comment on Kyoto and Electricity Generation in Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knapp, V.

1998-01-01

Kyoto convention signed in December 1997 will, pending ratification, introduce legal obligations to countries of Annex I of the Convention to reduce CO 2 emission. Reductions will be obligatory for a number of small and medium European countries. Croatia will have to reduce its emission to 95% of the 1990 level. Possibility to meet this target without the use of new nuclear facility is doubtful. (author)

Achievements and Perspectives of the Adult Education in Croatia.

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Klapan, Anita

Historical development of adult education in Croatia can be identified in seven phases: (1) the beginning of the 20th century and the period between the two World Wars; (2) World War II; (3) period from 1945 to the early 1950s; (4) early 1950s to 1965; (5) period between 1965 and 1980; (6) 1980s; and (7) period after the fall of the Berlin…

Honey As A Bioindicator Of Environmental Radioactive Contamination In Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franic, Z.; Petrinec, B.; Marovic, G.

2015-01-01

Radioecological investigations regarding fission products in foodstuffs in Croatia are implemented as part of an extended and still ongoing radioactive contamination monitoring programme of the human environment. The programme has been designed and endorsed by the Croatian State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Security and fully harmonized with European legislation, i.e. the European Commission's recommendation of June 2000 on the application of Article 36 of the Euratom Treaty. For describing the overall possible impact the contaminants have on the entire region, the most efficient sampler would be one that covers the largest area possible. In this sense, honey has been shown to be an excellent biological indicator for detecting radionuclides but also other pollutants such as heavy metals. In Croatia, radiocaesium nuclides like 137Cs and 134Cs in honey were first investigated after the Chernobyl accident in 1986. For both radionuclides, the activity concentrations in honey, which peaked in May 1986, decreased exponentially and the estimated ecological residence time, corrected for radioactive decay, was found to be 1.23 y for 137Cs and 1.07 y for 134Cs. In the early 1990s, activity concentrations in honey for both radionuclides were under the detection limit, but again rose after the Fukushima Daiichi accident. Effective radiation doses due to radiocaesium, received by the Croatian population by honey consumption, even in the year of the Chernobyl accident were estimated to be very small, the per caput dose being less than 1 micro Sv. Based on radioecological investigations of honey, we argue that the mobility of honey bees and their ability to integrate all exposure pathways could add another level of confidence to the present monitoring program if honey and other bee-farming products are included in the routine radioecological monitoring programme for the Croatian environment. (author).

The first report on mushroom green mould disease in Croatia.

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