View at Croatian Chemistry through Meetings of Croatian

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Trinajstić, N.

2007-10-01

Full Text Available The 20th Croatian meeting of chemists and chemical engineers was a proper occasion to consider the past meetings and their role in the development of Croatian chemistry and chemical engineering last 40 years, because these meetings reflect to a large extent the state of these sciences in Croatia. The circumstances that lead to establishment of the Croatian meetings of chemists and chemical engineers and the role of Professor Marijan Laaan (1919-1981 who started these meetings by organizing the first one are described. He also organized the second and the seventh meeting. All persons who chaired these meetings are mentioned, as well as all the lecturers who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. Especially emphasized is the participation of Vladimir Prelog (1906-1998 since the twentieth meeting was dedicated to him and to Leopold Ružička (1887-1976 - two excellent Croatian chemists who for their first-class research in organic chemistry won the Nobel Prize (Ružička in 1939 and Prelog 1975. The places where the meetings were held are listed. The structure of the meetings when the change of the meetings' title happened is delineated and the representation of various branches of chemistry according to the number of contributions is discussed. Similarly, the Croatian institutions according to the number ofcontributions of their staff-members and the contributors with the highest number of communications at each meeting are pointed out. Emphasized is the international character of these meetings and the countries from which the participants came are listed. Finally, only one contribution is discussed in detail - the report by Kata Mlinarić-Majerski and Zdenko Majerski on the preparation of [3.1.1]propellane inserted in the structure of adamantane. Adamantane chemistry in Croatia started with the first ever adamantane synthesis in 1941, when Prelog and Seiwerth prepared this cage hydrocarbon and is still going strong due to efforts by Kata Mlinaria

Sociodemographic Characteristics of Croatian MPs and Croatian Government Offi cials 2000-2003

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Davorka Budimir

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The article analyses sociodemographic characteristics of the Croatian MPs in the fourth term (2000-2003 and Croatian government offi cials (2000-2003, based on a conducted survey. The lack of empirical research of the Croatian political élite since 1990 is the main reason why it is not possible to establish with certainty measurable indicators of changes in their social structure and comings and goings. The analysis of sociodemographic characteristics of MPs and government offi cials is a method for better understanding of structural changes, and the data on sex, age, and type and level of education ensure better understanding of some specifi c qualities of the Croatian political élite. Sociodemographic characteristics of the parents of the interviewed MPs and government offi cials show that members of the political élite have found a successful channel of social promotion through their engagement in politics. The results have shown that high politics is a privilege of mostly highly educated men older than 40, who have graduated in social sciences, with an evident lack of women and the young in politics.

Croatian Ethnogenesis: A Review of Component Stages and Interpretations (with Emphasis on Eurasian/Nomadic Elements

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Emil Heršak

2007-09-01

Full Text Available In the paper, the authors present certain parameters dealing with the nomadic element, or possible indications of it, in Croatian ethnogenesis. First, a comment is given on the ethnogenetic concept itself, and a working definition of ethnogenesis is suggested. Second, the major components that are considered to have had a role in Croatian ethnogenesis are listed. This discussion is followed by an identification of those elements that could somehow be considered nomadic, or else representative of influences from the Eurasian steppe region. Mention is made of historical sources that confirm or imply the presence of Eurasian nomad groups in the Croatian area, and the relative frequency of archaeological material is noted. The authors analise views of previous and present Croatian and foreign authors on Croatian ethnogenesis, especially in regard to the “Eurasian connection”. In this part of the discussion, the Iranian theory of Croat origins is presented in more detail. Finally, the authors briefly address recent genetic (DNA analyses of the contemporary Croatian population.

Association of TNF promoter polymorphisms with type 1 diabetes in the South Croatian population

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VESNA BORASKA

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Type 1 diabetes mellitus (TIDM is an autoimmune disease characterized by the destruction of pancreatic p cells. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF is a pleotropic cytokine with potent immunomodulatory and inflammatory activity. Association studies of TNF polymorphisms and type 1 diabetes (TIDM frequently demonstrated TNF involvement with TIDM. Although TNF may play an important role in the pathogenesis of TIDM, the genetic association of TNF región with the disease has not been conclusive because of the strong linkage disequilibrium with HLA genes. In this study, we examined two TNF promoter variants (rs 1800629 at position -308, and rs361525 at position -238 for TIDM association in 233 patients and 144 controls from the population of South Croatia. A higher frequency of TNF -308 A alíele and also, a more frequent specific -308A -238G haplotype in TIDM patients were observed with a limited significance. However, we did not find strong evidence of association of TNF promoter polymorphisms with TIDM. In order to elucidate the trae contribution of TNF to TIDM susceptibility in our population, more comprehensive studies with HLA adjustment in a larger sample are required.

Croatian Energy System Defossilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potocnik, V.

2013-01-01

Defossilization of an energy system, as primary cause of the actual climate change, means exchange of predominantly imported fossil fuels with climate more convenient energy carriers, facilitating thus the way out of crisis.Overview of the world and Croatian energy system situation is presented as well as the overview of climate change. The most important Croatian energy system defossilization measures-energy efficiency increase, renewable energy inclusion and others - are described.(author)

Clinical, hormonal and metabolic characteristics of polycystic ovary syndrome among obese and nonobese women in the Croatian population.

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Baldani, Dinka Pavicić; Skrgatić, Lana; Goldstajn, Marina Sprem; Vrcić, Hrvoje; Canić, Tomislav; Strelec, Mihajlo

2013-06-01

Obesity has a deteriorating impact on women with PCOS, although prevalence and the impact of specific traits of PCOS remain inconstant in different populations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the differences in clinical, hormonal and metabolic features between obese and nonobese Croatian women diagnosed as having PCOS according to Rotterdam consensus criteria. The study included 74 obese and 208 nonobese women with PCOS. Clinical, biochemical and metabolic variables were compared among those PCOS subgroups. Obese subjects with PCOS had a higher risk of developing oligo-amenorrhea (OR 3.7; 95% CI, 1.1-12.5) and lower risk for developing hirsutism and acne (OR 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.3 and OR 0.8; 95% CI 0.5-1.4, respectively). Obese PCOS subjects also had a higher risk of developing hyperandrogenemia (OR 2.5; CI 95% 0.9-6.7), insulin resistance (OR 4.5; CI 95%, 2.6-7.9), hypercholesterolemia (OR 5.0, CI 95% 2.5-10.2), hypertriglyceridemia (OR 5.2; 95% CI, 2.9-9.2) as well as elevated serum CRP levels (OR 4.1; 95% CI 1.4-12.2) compared to nonobese PCOS women. In conclusion, nonobese Croatian women with PCOS are more inclined to cosmetic problems associated with PCOS then metabolic ones. This is the first study to report the impact of obesity on acne and irregular menses as a study outcome. Obesity deteriorates menstrual regularity, insulin sensitivity and lipid profile in Croatian women with PCOS; therefore one of the fundamental treatment strategies of PCOS should be obesity prevention.

Distinctiveness of the Roma population within CYP2B6 worldwide variation.

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Tomas, Željka; Kuhanec, Antonija; Škarić-Jurić, Tatjana; Petranović, Matea Zajc; Narančić, Nina Smolej; Janićijević, Branka; Salihović, Marijana Peričić

2017-11-01

To determine variation of CYP2B6 gene within the genetically specific Croatian Roma (Gypsy) population originating from India and to examine it in the worldwide perspective. Seven SNP loci (rs12721655, rs2279343, rs28399499, rs34097093, rs3745274, rs7260329 and rs8192709) were genotyped in 439 subjects using Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR (KASP) method. The Croatian Roma took an outlying position in CYP2B6 variation from the worldwide perspective mainly due to their exceptionally high minor allele frequency (MAF) for rs8192709 (12.8%), and lower for rs2279343 (21.1%) compared with south Asian populations. This study provides the first data of several CYP2B6 polymorphisms in Roma population and indicates the need for systematic investigation of the most important pharmacogenes' variants in this large, transnationally isolated population worldwide.

The Derivatives as Financial Risk Management Instruments: The Case of Croatian and Slovenian Non-financial Companies

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Danijela Miloš Sprčić

2007-12-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses financial risk management practices and derivative usage in large Croatian and Slovenian non-financial companies and explores if the decision to use derivatives as risk management instruments in the analysed companies is a function of several firm’s characteristics that have been proven as relevant in making financial risk management decisions. On the basis of the research results it can be concluded that forwards and swaps are by far the most important derivative instruments in both countries. Futures as representatives of standardised derivatives together with structured derivatives are more important in the Slovenian than in the Croatian companies, while exchange-traded and OTC options are unimportant means of financial risk management in both countries. A comparative analysis conducted to explore differences between risk management practices in Slovenian and Croatian companies has shown evidence that Slovenian companies use all types of derivatives, especially structured derivatives, more intensively than Croatian companies. The survey has revealed that the explored hedging rationales have little predictive power in explaining financial risk management decisions both in Croatian and Slovenian companies. The decision to use derivatives in Croatian non-financial companies is related only to the investment expenditures-to-assets ratio which controls for costly external financing hypothesis, while the decision to use derivatives in Slovenian companies is dependent only on the size of the company. It can be argued that the characteristics of the Croatian and Slovenian firms could be found in other South-eastern European countries and that findings of this research may act as a baseline from which to generalise. Therefore, the survey results analysed in this paper also suggest a broader comparison across countries in the region. The advantage of this work is that it provides an impetus for further research to move beyond the

Grid-code of Croatian power system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toljan, I.; Mesic, M.; Kalea, M.; Koscak, Z.

2003-01-01

Grid Rules by the Croatian Electricity Utility deal with the control and usage of the Croatian power system's transmission and distribution grid. Furthermore, these rules include obligations and permissions of power grid users and owners, with the aim of a reliable electricity supply.(author)

Inconsistencies In Croatian Strategy Of Radioactive Waste Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2015-01-01

The paper addresses inconsistencies appearing in the new Croatian Strategy of radioactive waste, spent sources and spent nuclear fuel management. These appear both at the conceptual level as well as at the level of justification: 1) New Croatian Strategy is planning unconditional and hasty establishment of a Croatian dry storage for the Croatian half of the spent fuel from the Krsko nuclear power plant (in about 10 years), although the plant itself is planning establishment of dry storage for its spent fuel on its own site in Slovenia by 2019 - which is noted in the same Strategy. 2) The Croatian Strategy provides false arguments for establishment of radioactive waste storage and repository in Croatia (based on invented 'interpretations' of the Bilateral agreement with Slovenia), although true arguments, legitimate and convincing, are obvious and sufficient for such strategic planning. One author of this paper communicated suggestions, based on above arguments, to the State Office for Radiological and Nuclear Safety, who had drafted the Strategy and was coordinating preparation of the final proposal during the document adoption procedure. Croatian Radiation Protection Association and Croatian Nuclear Society also provided comments aimed at improving the draft. The authors here suggest that only clear and honest arguments can maintain public confidence in the competence of the State, which is a prerequisite for establishing radioactive waste management facilities. The authors propose that the State office should engage Croatian professional associations and societies already in the process of strategic documents drafting, whereas they should most seriously focus on the conceptual aspects of such documents. (author).

Why is the NORM Waste Included in to the Croatian RadWaste Strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prlic, I.; Suric Mihic, M.; Hajdinjak, M.

2016-01-01

Croatian RADWASTE Strategy uses modern approach according to EC Directive 2013/59/EURATOM and Croatian Act on Radiological and Nuclear Safety (Official Gazette 141/13, 39/15) linking the entire field of, till modern times non regulated industrial NORM wastes to properly regulated RADWastes. This approach has brought some obscurities to a professional radiation protection community because the fact that NORM will be treated together with the 'heavy' concept of nuclear and radioactive waste was not acceptable due to a historical division of those two fields of radioactivity. As NORM is still regarded as a slightly technologically blended radioactivity which is of no concern to be a risk for the population and RADWASTE is a 'murder' of any population in its vicinity, the need for terminology harmonization and scientifically correct public education was recognized. It is barely known that during the recent past some Croatian professionals did included the NORM sites into the state documents and reports to international regulatory bodies as pure RADWASTE sites. This fact produces immense regulatory difficulties even today. The one and only legal way to solve both, regulatory issues providing real radiation protection procedures during existing NORM waste site sanation and exempting sites to be reused for a legal public purpose (industrial or any other) was to incorporate the existing Croatian NORM sites into the RADWASTE Strategy and to solve all legal radioactivity burden issues during the governmental acceptance process. This approach is a new one in Croatian regulatory acquits and first responses from the stake holders and public involved are promising. The experience from the field and first responses to a concept of harmonizing the reuse approach of existing NORM waste sites from stake holders and partly from general public will be discussed.(author).

The Americanization of the Croatian language.

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Bosnar-Valković, Brigita; Blazević, Nevenka; Gjuran-Coha, Anamarija

2008-12-01

The USA is spreading their political, military, economic, scientific, artistic and cultural mission throughout the world. The aim of this paper is to bring to the attention the Americanization of the Croatian language particularly evident in the newly adopted language manners, in teenage language, in specialist languages, in the field of advertising and in political correctness. The spread of Americanization of the Croatian language has both negative and positive effects. Positive effects can be regarded as enrichment of the Croatian language, whereas the negative ones endanger its deep structure. Positive effects should be supported and negative minimized through the cooperation between experts in linguistics and politics.

Modelling energy demand of Croatian industry sector

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Medić, Zlatko Bačelić; Pukšec, Tomislav; Mathiesen, Brian Vad

2014-01-01

Industry represents one of the most interesting sectors when analysing Croatian final energy demand. Croatian industry represents 20% of nation's GDP and employs 25% of total labour force making it a significant subject for the economy. Today, with around 60 PJ of final energy demand...... it is the third most energy intensive sector in Croatia after transport and households. Implementing mechanisms that would lead to improvements in energy efficiency in this sector seems relevant. Through this paper, long-term energy demand projections for Croatian industry will be shown. The central point...... for development of the model will be parameters influencing the industry in Croatia. Energy demand predictions in this paper are based upon bottom-up approach model. IED model produces results which can be compared to Croatian National Energy Strategy. One of the conclusions shown in this paper is significant...

SMALL ENTERPRENEURSHIP IN HOSPITALITY: CROATIAN EXPERIENCES

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Slobodan Ivanovic

2013-03-01

Full Text Available After introductory explanations regarding the selection problems of small enterprises in the Croatian hotel industry, the author provides a number of key indicators of their role in improving the competitiveness of the Croatian hotel industry in the global tourism market. In developed tourism countries, small enterprises have a dominant share in the structure of the hotel industry, and their importance is growing even in the former socialist countries of Europe. Small hotels in Italy accounted for more than 50%, and in Austria with more than 70% of lodging facilities and represent a generator of hotel business in a large number of European tourism countries, and great attention is given to the small enterpreneurs stimulating their growth with different measures of tourist and general economy politics. The author reflects on the Croatian experience of the small businesses in the hospitality through research of development of small family hotels and their importance for the improvement of the supply of the Croatian hotel industry which future is built on personal approach to guests and present trends in the tourism market. States that the role of the National Association of family and small hotels, which represents the specific interests of small hoteliers and enables the continuous improvement of the quality of their offerings, as well as measures to encourage small business development at the macro level. Based on the made analysis the measures of increasing the efficiency of small businesses in the Croatian hospitality are given.

Sociogeographical elements and determinants of Croatian Islands classification

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Veni Marinković

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Although Croatian Islands belong to the same macro-region of the Adriatic Croatia, they are characterized by a great heterogeneity of their geospatial reality at regional, micro regional, interinsular and local level, as well as by the complexity of the socio-economic structure and dynamic characteristics, as a result of physical-geographical and historical processes and contemporary development trends on them. The paper deals with sociogeographical classification of Croatian archipelago and provides an overview and systematization of scientific and professional considerations of its geospatial heterogeneity. It also includes an overview of Croatian Islands typification based on multi-criteria indicators. The author concluded the work by presenting a proposal of Croatian Islands clusterization concept as a contribution to the islands developmental policy.

Decarbonization of Croatian Energy System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potocnik, V.

2012-01-01

Energy system decarbonization is reduction of greenhouse gases (CO 2 ) emission, chiefly from the fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) combustion. The main objective of an energy system decarbonization is the climate change mitigation, and at the same time development of local industry and employment, better environment and health protection, as well as reduction of the fossil fuels import and foreign debt. Croatia has small fossil fuels reserves and large renewable energy sources (RES) reserves, energy efficiency (ENEF) is relatively low, and energy import, according to the actual Energy strategy 2009, should increase from 50% to 70% until 2020. Croatian energy system participates with about one third in the Croatian foreign trade deficit. The main measures of the Croatian energy system decarbonization should be: increasing ENEF (energy savings), switch from fossil fuels to RES, administrative measures (low carbon development strategy, environmental tax reform, and decoupling income from energy sales). By urgent application of these measures, Croatia could become fossil fuels free until the year 2050.(author)

An Evolutionary Framework for Understanding Sex Differences in Croatian Mortality Rates

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Daniel J. Kruger

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Being male is the strongest demographic predictor of early mortality in Croatia. For every woman who dies between the ages of 15 and 34, three men die. Between the ages of 15 and 54, men are four times as likely as women to die from behavioral causes of death, such as accidents, homicides, and suicides. A causal explanation for sex differences in mortality must be based on an understanding of how sex differences were shaped by natural selection, and how those differences interact with environmental factors to create observed patterns and variations. In brief, males have been selected for riskier behavioral and physiological strategies than women, because of the greater variance and skew in male reproductive success. This paper examines the sex difference in Croatian mortality in three parts. First, we quantify the Croatian Male to Female Mortality Ratio (M:F MR for 9 major causes of death across age group to provide a richer understanding of the sex difference in mortality from a life history framework. Second, we compare the Croatian M:F MR from behavioral, internal, and all causes with that of the available world population to demonstrate how Croatian mortality can be understood as part of a universal pattern that is influenced by unique environmental context. Third, we investigate how the War of Independence in 1991-1995 affected mortality patterns though its impact on behavioral strategies and the physical embodiment of distress.

Can Tourism Revive the Croatian Economy?

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McCormick Janice

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Croatia has one of its weakest economies in European Union. The most powerful engine driving a nation’s economy is its businesses. But Croatian business is not faring well. The Croatian government is hoping tourism will help revive the economy. This is a realistic hope but one that will be realized only through concerted action by business, government, and the education sector.

Eu Enlargement and Migration: Scenarios of Croatian Accession

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Wadim Strielkowski

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes possible incidence of pending Croatian EU accession that is to take place on the 1st of July 2013, on the labour migration from Croatia to the European Union. We apply panel data estimators using the data on emigration from 18 EU countries into Germany (which is the EU country with the largest share of ex-Yugoslav and Croatian migrants in order to construct possible scenarios of Croatian migration to the EU.Three scenarios of migration - pessimistic, realistic and optimistic - are drawn and the sensitivity of estimated coefficients on migration from Croatia into Germany during next 25 years is further discussed in detail. We conclude that, similarly to hypothetical Turkish accession, Croatian EU accession is not going to cause massive migration inflows.

Nursing as a career choice: perceptions of school students speaking Arabic, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Turkish or Vietnamese at home.

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Tang, K C; Duffield, C; Chen, X C; Choucair, S; Creegan, R; Mak, C; Lesley, G

1999-01-01

Australia is a multicultural society and nowhere is this more evident than in Sydney where 25% of the population speaks a language other than English. In one of the largest area health services in New South Wales, the five most frequently spoken languages at home are Arabic, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Turkish or Vietnamese, with these language groups comprising 12% of Sydney's population. Yet nurses speaking one of these five languages comprise less than 1% of the nursing workforce. A cost-effective method of addressing the shortage of nurses speaking languages other than English is to recruit students who already speak another language into the profession. This study examined high school students' perceptions of nursing in order to determine appropriate methods of recruiting students speaking one of these languages. Implications for the design of recruitment campaigns are also discussed.

How to Improve Patient Safety Culture in Croatian Hospitals?

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Šklebar, Ivan; Mustajbegović, Jadranka; Šklebar, Duška; Cesarik, Marijan; Milošević, Milan; Brborović, Hana; Šporčić, Krunoslav; Petrić, Petar; Husedžinović, Ino

2016-09-01

Patient safety culture (PCS) has a crucial impact on the safety practices of healthcare delivery systems. The purpose of this study was to assess the state of PSC in Croatian hospitals and compare it with hospitals in the United States. The study was conducted in three public general hospitals in Croatia using the Croatian translation of the Hospital Survey of Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC). A comparison of the results from Croatian and American hospitals was performed using a T-square test. We found statistically significant differences in all 12 PSC dimensions. Croatian responses were more positive in the two dimensions of Handoff s and Transitions and Overall Perceptions of Patient Safety. In the remaining ten dimensions, Croatian responses were less positive than in US hospitals, with the most prominent areas being Nonpunitive Response to Error, Frequency of Events Reported, Communication Openness, Teamwork within Units, Feedback & Communication about Error, Management Support for Patient Safety, and Staffing. Our findings show that PSC is significantly lower in Croatian than in American hospitals, particularly in the areas of Nonpunitive Response to Error, Leadership, Teamwork, Communication Openness and Staffing. This suggests that a more comprehensive system for the improvement of patient safety within the framework of the Croatian healthcare system needs to be developed. Our findings also help confirm that HSOPSC is a useful and appropriate tool for the assessment of PSC. HSOPSC highlights the PSC components in need of improvement and should be considered for use in national and international benchmarking.

Scientific Output of Croatian Universities: Comparison with Neighbouring Countries

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Boris Podobnik

2008-06-01

Full Text Available We compared the Croatian research output with the neighboring countries and the Croatian universities with the largest Slovenian, Hungarian, and Serbian universities. As far as papers listed by Social Science Citation Index are concerned, since 2000 the University of Zagreb exhibits best results in social sciences compared to the competing universities, that is not the case in “hard” sciences. For the last 12 years, only the University of Ljubljana has shown better results in total research output than the University of Zagreb. The difference in research output between the University of Zagreb and the rest of the Croatian universities has been constantly decreasing. As a case study we compare research output at Faculty of Civil Engeenering on different Croatian universities. By analyzing European countries, we show a functional dependence between the gross domestic product (GDP and the research output. From this fit we conclude that the Croatian science exhibits research output as expected for the given level of GDP.

Croatian library leaders’ views on (their library quality

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Kornelija Petr Balog

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to determine and describe the library culture in Croatian public libraries. Semi-structured interviews with 14 library directors (ten public and four academic were conducted. The tentative discussion topics were: definition of quality, responsibility for quality, satisfaction with library services, familiarization with user perspective of library and librarians, monitoring of user expectations and opinions. These interviews incorporate some of the findings of the project Evaluation of library and information services: public and academic libraries. The project investigates library culture in Croatian public and academic libraries and their preparedness for activities of performance measurement. The interviews reveal that library culture has changed positively in the past few years and that library leaders have positive attitude towards quality and evaluation activities. Library culture in Croatian libraries is a relatively new concept and as such was not actively developed and/or created. This article looks into the library culture of Croatian libraries, but at the same time investigates whether there is any trace of culture of assessment in them. Also, this article brings the latest update on views, opinions and atmosphere in Croatian public and academic libraries.

Croatian Hotel Industry Financial Features Within the Period of Privatization

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Jasmina Lončar

2004-11-01

Full Text Available The Croatian tourist sector has been stagnating during the period of transition. By analyzing the balance of Croatian hotels, the influence on the changes and courses of balance, the author points out the increasing seriousness of the situation in Croatian hotel industry measured in the relation of property, debts and owners’ capital. The connection between the financial structure, balance liabilities and the diversification of the instruments of property structure, defines the optimal financial adjustment of firms in tourism. In present-day Croatian hotel companies, uncertain profits make the company risky, not only in the aspect of debts but also considering the equity capital, which is then reflected in unsatisfactory business results. Similar researches are crucial ways towards a global knowledge about privatization in Croatian tourism today.

Restorative treatment decisions of Croatian university teachers.

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Baraba, Anja; Doméjean, Sophie; Jurić, Hrvoje; Espelid, Ivar; Tveit, Anne B; Anić, Ivica

2012-12-01

This study aimed to identify differences in diagnostic criteria and restorative treatment among Croatian university teachers. The questionnaire was distributed to 120 Croatian university teachers in Zagreb and Rijeka. Responses were collected from 59 (49.2%) university teachers. Treatment thresholds for hypothetical approximal and occlusal caries, as well as most favored types of restorative techniques and materials were assessed. The majority (34%) of the respondents would intervene for an approximal caries lesion at the enamel-dentin junction. The leading strategy for occlusal caries was postponing operative treatment until the caries lesion was in the outer third of dentin and removing caries tissue only. Composite resin was the predominant material of choice for restoration of approximal and occlusal caries (70% and 81% respectively). More than half (54%) of Croatian university teachers believed the radiographs underestimated the depth of the caries lesion compared with clinical finding. Findings of this study should be a guideline for Croatian university teachers for a more consistent and modern teaching on the subject of caries management.

Dark Triad of Croatian Management Students

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Mario Bogdanovic

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper researches the so-called “dark triad” personality traits of management student populations, because of their potential to generate dysfunctional organizational behavior and processes. Namely, the dark triad with characteristics such as lack of empathy, willingness to manipulate others (for self-betterment, antagonism, and belief in one’s own superiority can represent a real organizational threat. The goal of this paper is to stimulate thinking and discussion around this issue. The paper is based on questionnaire measurement that adopts the standardized short dark triad measurement instrument of Jones and Paulhus (2012 who measure the scales of Machiavellianism (9 items, narcissism (9 items and psychopathy (9 items. The sample included 150 students of professional management studies at the Faculty of Economics, University of Split in Croatia. Results of the Croatian students are compared with the results of 387 students in Canada. The results suggest significant statistical differences in the “dark triad” variables between the Canadian and Croatian samples. The practical implications of this paper are in raising awareness and stimulating the thinking of managers around the potential of the “dark triad” traits of engaged human resources to create organizational crisis, and to make preventive and responsive actions to manage the “toxic triad” threat.

PHRASEOLOGY IN PARČIĆ'S CROATIAN – ITALIAN DICTIONARY

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Helena Pavletić

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The paper analyzes and classifies the types of phraseological groups in Parčić's Croatian – Italian Dictionary comparing them with Italian equivalents and the contemporary Croatian phraseology.

Analysis of Cruise Tourism on Croatian Rivers

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Astrid Zekić

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Cruise trips have been rising in popularity since the 1970sand are currently a trend in the tourism market. This is particularly true of river cruises, which record a constant growth in the number of ship calls. The general upward trend in the number of river cruise passengers and dockings is also present in Croatia. Prerequisites for the development of cruising on Croatian rivers include, in addition to other geographical features, also the length of navigable water ways, but a systematic approach to this issue is needed for further development. The authors investigate the level of development of infrastructure on Croatian rivers and analyse the passenger and ship traffic on them. Special attention is given to the importance of cruises for tourism on European rivers and worldwide. In accordance with the Croatian Tourism Development Strategy until 2020, the authors explore geographical and other conditions necessary for the development of river cruise tourism. The aim of the paper is to point to the importance of building infrastructure for accommodation of vessels sailing on Croatian rivers, and in particular to the need to improve tourism offer in river destinations.

Centuries-Long Trends in the Linguistic Integration of Croatian Society

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Amir Kapetanović

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the history of the Croatian language, particularly the paths of the gradual linguistic integration of all Croats and the development of the standard language (based upon the Štokavian dialect within Croatian society, whose members have spoken three dialects (Čakavian, Štokavian, Kajkavian since the Middle Ages. Because of the multidialectal situation (all three dialects played an important role in the history of the Croatian language, linguistic integration was a complex process. The use of the Croatian language before national integrality in the 19th century may look complicated and disunified, but this article attempts to show the old connections between different dialectal areas and the realization of two the main conceptions of the construction of Croatian superdialectal (literary expression in linguistic history: a literary language with a single-dialect basis (but with multi-dialectal infiltration within the superstructure and a literary (hybrid type of language based upon at least two dialects.

Psychometric Characteristics of Croatian Version of the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale

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Željko Rakošec

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Background: The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES has been developed through extensive and qualitative research. Numerous studies have confirmed the reliability and validity of the DSES among different populations. Most of the studies have shown association of the DSES with physical and psychological well-being. Purpose: The current study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the DSES in the Croatian population. Method: The 16-item scale was translated through standard translation/back-translation procedures. The scale was afterwards applied to a sample of 535 test subjects (49% men and 51% women, mean age 42.6 years. Results: The coefficient of reliability (Cronbach alpha = 0.945 is very high. The coefficients of discriminant validity were satisfactory for 15 items, whereas only one item (14 has a coefficient of less than 0.30. The factor analysis after oblique rotation resulted in two related factors: the relationship with God and relationship with others. Using these two factors explained the 66.1% of the variance. Conclusion: Based on the data, it can be concluded that DSES has satisfactory psychometric characteristics and can be applied to the Croatian population, but its correlation with other religious and non-religious constructs should be verified in further research.

Management support to e-business initiatives: The Croatian experience

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Mario Spremić

2003-01-01

Full Text Available After defining e-business and explaining why an evolutionary aspect of moving to e-business is required, the dimensions of e-business is defined with respect to differences between traditional business, partial, or pure e-business. Also, a model for moving to e-business is illustrated. The e-business evolving model is divided into six stages and represents an evolutionary aspect of migrating to e-business. Finally, the results of the research study on current practices in evolving e-business in the most successful Croatian companies are given. In this research, some aspects of business process innovation and e-business usage have been investigated (general e-business issues with levels of e-business usage, key objectives of participating in e-business, alignment of business strategy with e-business initiatives, initiation of e-business projects and e-business planning issues, especially e-business funding. The questionnaire was sent to 400 CEOs or CIOs in Croatian companies selected from the Register of the ‘400 Biggest’ Croatian companies which were ranked according to their 2001 annual revenue and which were most likely to represent the structure of the Croatian economy. Although they represent less than 1% of the total number of registered companies in Croatia, the sampled companies hold 73% of the equity capital of the whole Croatian economy, they contribute with 65% in the total Croatian economy’s export balance and they employ 37% of the total number of people employed in Croatia.

Disambiguation of neutralized forms in two Croatian varieties

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Višnja Josipović

1994-12-01

Full Text Available A type of northwestern Croatian pronunciation, also known as the Kajkavian accent, was compared with the standard Croatian pronunciation with respect to the strategies used to disambiguate neutralized final obstruents. The two varieties differ in that the former is characterized by the phonological rule of Final Devoicing, where word-final obstruents are realized as voiceles.

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.

A MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF CROATIAN COUNTIES ENTREPRENEURSHIP

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Elza Jurun

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In the focus of this paper is a multivariate analysis of Croatian Counties entrepreneurship. Complete data base available by official statistic institutions at national and regional level is used. Modern econometric methodology starting from a comparative analysis via multiple regression to multivariate cluster analysis is carried out as well as the analysis of successful or inefficacious entrepreneurship measured by indicators of efficiency, profitability and productivity. Time horizons of the comparative analysis are in 2004 and 2010. Accelerators of socio-economic development - number of entrepreneur investors, investment in fixed assets and current assets ratio in multiple regression model are analytically filtered between twenty-six independent variables as variables of the dominant influence on GDP per capita in 2010 as dependent variable. Results of multivariate cluster analysis of twentyone Croatian Counties are interpreted also in the sense of three Croatian NUTS 2 regions according to European nomenclature of regional territorial division of Croatia.

International Trade of Croatian Chemical Industry Summary

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Goran Buturac

2009-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper Croatian chemical industry in international trade is analyzed by applying k-means cluster method. The work is oriented toward the role and contribution of individual product groups in total trade patterns of chemical industry. The RCA indicator, GL index, RUV indicator and the share of individual chemical products in the total export of chemical industry are used as variables. The products at the fourdigit level of the SITC are used as objects. The cluster of chemical products in which Croatia has comparative advantages contributes significantly in export structure. At the same time this cluster consists of a few product types thus indicating strong export concentration of Croatian chemical industry. Regarding of the value of RUV indicator, Croatian chemical industry benefits most in the international trade with antibiotics and medicines that contain antibiotics. Beside fertilizers, these two products have the greatest share in the export structure. The great majority of the chemical products have the low level of intra-industry trade specialization.

New Croatian Act on Ionizing Radiation Protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grgic, S.

1998-01-01

According to the new Croatian Act on ionizing radiation protection which is in a final stage of genesis, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia is the governmental body responsible for all aspects relating sources of ionizing radiation in Croatia: practices, licenses, users, transport, in medicine and industry as well, workers with sources of ionizing radiation, emergency preparedness in radiological accidents, storage of radioactive wastes, x-ray machines and other machines producing ionizing radiation and radioactive materials in the environment. Ministry of Health is responsible to the Government of the Republic of Croatia, closely collaborating with the Croatian Radiation Protection Institute, health institution for the performance of scientific and investigation activities in the field of radiation protection. Ministry of Health is also working together with the Croatian Institute for the Occupational Health. More emphasis has been laid on recent discussion among the world leading radiation protection experts on justification of the last recommendations of the ICRP 60 publication. (author)

Stock Market Liquidity: Comparative Analysis of Croatian and Regional Markets

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Vladimir Benić

2008-12-01

Full Text Available On the Croatian stock market liquidity has never been in the focus of academic research thus we find it necessary to observe liquidity at the aggregate level. This paper observes multi-dimensional liquidity through the impact of turnover on price change together with several one-dimensional measures. In our empirical research we applythe illiquidity measureto seven different stock markets. We focus on the Croatian stock market as compared to other markets in the Central and Eastern Europe and German market. The results of the research indicate a substantial level of illiquidity in the Croatian and other developing markets.

Esperanto (sen perspektivo? Croatian Esperantists on the International Language Esperanto

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Krunoslav Puškar

2015-04-01

Full Text Available To our knowledge, there is to date no significant number of sociological studies dealing with the Esperanto movement, and there are even fewer sociolinguistic explorations of the whole Esperanto phenomenon. Concentrating on the Croatian Esperanto movement, we conducted an extensive study of Croatian Esperantists? attitudes towards the structure of Esperanto, and their perception of the Esperanto movement and the overall Esperanto phenomenon - aspects still conspicuously missing in recent Esperantological research. This study offers invaluable insight into these under-researched interlinguistic areas, and also into the specific outlook of the traditional Croatian Esperanto movement.

The Attitudes of Croatian Citizens toward Cultural Diversities

OpenAIRE

Milan Mesić; Dragan Bagić

2011-01-01

The paper is based on part of results of a representative national examination of Croatian citizens’ attitudes about cultural diversities in Croatian society. A field survey was conducted by using the personal interview method in the respondent’s household, within the framework of an omnibus research. By cultural diversities, the authors mean national and religious communities. In this respect, Croatia is culturally a heterogeneous political community like most countries of the contemporary w...

APPROACHES TO ICT TERMINOLOGY IN THE SCIENTIFIC AND PEDAGOGICAL REGISTER OF CROATIAN UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

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Daniela Matić

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes examples of ICT terminology sampled from Croatian university textbooks and educational materials published from the year 2001 to 2015 and recommended for undergraduate and graduate students at Croatian universities. The collection includes: Croatian calques; standalone neologisms and those followed by an English equivalent; translated English metaphorical expressions; hybrids without translations; orthographically, phonologically/phonetically and morphologically adapted Anglicisms and those which can be integrated into the Croatian standard without any adaptation; and multi-word Croatian equivalents with single-word English and with multi-word English equivalents. Some of the English expressions were italicized or bolded and some not. The aim of our analysis was to describe current practices in writing educational materials, to establish the nature of the university materials authors’ relation towards English and Croatian expressions, and to find out if there was some pattern in the use of Croatian and English ICT terms which the authors had followed. During the analysis, we observed a lack of consistent and systematic approach to the creation of materials, a shift from the norms of the standard Croatian language and resorting to non-adapted or slightly adapted English terms which seem to be often favored over the Croatian ones. We are of the opinion that corpus planning and better management of terminology, adaptation and integration processes within a more modern language policy framework could bring much needed stability to the Croatian scientific and pedagogical register.

BUSINESS CLIMATE INDICATOR AS A PREDICTOR OF CROATIAN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

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Mirjana Čižmešija

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Business and Consumer Surveys (BCS are one of the most frequently used tools to assess economy’s cyclical behavior. Croatia has been conducting the surveys continually since 1995. Nevertheless, there is still a research niche in the Croatian BCS framework that has not been adequately represented. The Joint Harmonised EU Programme of Business and Consumer Surveys suggests Business Climate Indicator (BCI as a composite leading indicator of the economy as a whole. In accordance to the EU methodology, this paper examines managers’ qualitative assessments on five important variables related to their economic environment. Using factor analysis one factor was extracted from those five variables, representing the BCI. It’s predictive properties were analyzed with regards to Croatian industrial production using Granger causality test, impulse response and variance decomposition analysis. Results strongly confirm the precedence of BCI to the changes of Croatian industrial production, validating the importance of its introduction and utilization in Croatian economic cycles analysis.

Psychometric Properties of the Croatian Language Version of the Dental Environment Stress Questionnaire on Dental Medicine Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Laktić, Martina; Kuftinec, Krešimir; Čelebić, Asja; Kovačić, Ines; Alhajj, Mohamed Nasser; Kiršić, Sanja Peršić

2017-09-01

To develop the Croatian version of the 41-item Dental Environment Stress questionnaire (DES) for stress assessment of dental students in both, preclinical and clinical years of study and to test its psychometric properties in Croatian dental student population. The English version of the 41-Item DES questionnaire was first translated into the Croatian language. Subsequently, it was set on the google drive and filled out by a total of 202 students from the School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb and 30 additional students from other Faculties. Students also assessed their overall level of stress on the Likert scale (1=no stress, 5=highest level of stress). Internal consistency was tested on 202 dental students; test-retest reliability on 30 dental students who filled out the same questionnaire twice; convergent validity on 202 dental students; and divergent validity on 202 dental students and 30 students from faculties not belonging to the biomedicine group. Internal consistency showed high Cronbach alpha coefficient (0.9) and test-retest reliability showed no significant difference (P>0.05) within the period of 14 days when stress level had not changed (vacation). Convergent validity was confirmed by the significant association between the DES summary scores and the self- perceived level of stress (Spearman's rho=0.881; P <0.001). Divergent validity was confirmed by significantly lower DES summary scores in students not belonging to the Biomedicine group (t=7.5, P<0.001). Excellent psychometric properties of the Croatian version of the DES questionnaire enable its utilization for assessment of stress level in Croatian dental students.

Influence of Port Policy on the Development of Croatian Container Ports

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Čedomir Dundović

2002-03-01

Full Text Available It is important to consider the port development throughoutthe world from the aspect of economical, transport and portpolicy and their mutual impact on commerce and efficiency ofports. By examining such relations in the context of developmentof the Croatian container ports, it is possible to define reasonsfor lagging behind of Croatian ports compared to theworld movements.The main reason for the negative trend of development ofCroatian container ports lies in the non-existence of adequatemeasures of transport, maritime and port policy. Analysis ofstatistics over the past decade and comparison of structure andvolume of the general cargo traffic in the Rijeka port and theneighbouring ports in the area of North Adriatic are both showingsignificant size discrepancy and uncompetitiveness of theCroatian port. Disturbances that have brought to such a situationresult from inadequate port policy and non-harmonisedactivities between various modes of transport.In order to overcome such situation, the authors suggest determiningof clear tasks, goals and measures of the port policythat have to be undertaken so that the Croatian policy could becompatible with the main aspects, development tendencies andmeasures of theE U port policy.

Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-01-01

New Croatian Act on ionizing radiation protection is in a final stage of genesis. Ministry of Health is responsible to the Government of the Republic of Croatia, closely collaborating with the Croatian Radiation Protection Institute and the Croatian Institute for the Occupational Health. Responsibilities include all aspects relating sources of ionizing radiation in Croatia: practices, licenses, users, transport, in medicine and industry as well, workers with sources of ionizing radiation, emergency preparedness in radiological accidents, storage of radioactive wastes, x-ray machines and other machines producing ionizing radiation and radioactive materials in the environment. Papers from the Fourth Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association are presented in seven sessions: 1. General Topics of Interest for Radiation Protection 2. Biological Effects of Radiation 3. Radioactive Waste Management 4. Radioecology 5. Dosimetry and Instrumentation 6. Radiation Protection in Medicine 7. Radon

Competition Efficiency Analysis of Croatian Junior Wrestlers in European Championship

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Kristijan Slacanac

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Croatian junior wrestler won a bronze medal at the European Championship 2016 year. Considering the potential of our wrestlers there is an obvious need of technical and tactical analysis so our juniors and seniors U23 wrestlers would be able to achieve even better results. Match analysis were conducted by LongoMatch 0.20.1. Seven matches of Croatian wrestlers were analysed. Time parameters, score efficiency, technical efficiency and tactical structure were observed and analysed from the aspect of attack and defence phase and successful/unsuccessful techniques. This paper shows descriptive parameters and competitor efficiency were calculated. The results show a great number of positive score in a standing position in relation to parterre position. The parameters of competitive efficiency (0.49 points per minute show better attacking efficiency (1.32 points per minute in relation to defence efficiency (0.83 points per minute. Croatian wrestlers achieve less score per minute in relation with elite wrestlers, but it is visible a significant progress in technical and tactical efficiency in relation in the past three year. According to place realization of technique, Croatian wrestlers realized more technique in the center, while opponents realized technique in the zone and moving to the zone. Further analysis of efficiency and individualisation training will improve efficiency of Croatian national wrestlers.

The First Year of Croatian Meteor Network

Science.gov (United States)

Andreic, Zeljko; Segon, Damir

2010-08-01

The idea and a short history of Croatian Meteor Network (CMN) is described. Based on use of cheap surveillance cameras, standard PC-TV cards and old PCs, the Network allows schools, amateur societies and individuals to participate in photographic meteor patrol program. The network has a strong educational component and many cameras are located at or around teaching facilities. Data obtained by these cameras are collected and processed by the scientific team of the network. Currently 14 cameras are operable, covering a large part of the croatian sky, data gathering is fully functional, and data reduction software is in testing phase.

Nuclear energy - an option for Croatian sustainable development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mikulicic, V.; Skanata, D.; Simic, Z.

1996-01-01

The uncertainties of growth in Croatian future energy, particularly electricity demand, together with growing environmental considerations and protection constraints, are such that Croatia needs to have flexibility to respond by having the option of expanding the nuclear sector. The paper deals with nuclear energy as an option for croatian sustainable economic development. The conclusion is that there is a necessity for extended use of nuclear energy in Croatia because most certainly nuclear energy can provide energy necessary to sustain progress. (author)

Psychometric Properties of the Croatian Language Version of the Dental Environment Stress Questionnaire on Dental Medicine Students

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Martina Laktić

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: To develop the Croatian version of the 41-item Dental Environment Stress questionnaire (DES for stress assessment of dental students in both, preclinical and clinical years of study and to test its psychometric properties in Croatian dental student population. Materials and Methods: The English version of the 41-Item DES questionnaire was first translated into the Croatian language. Subsequently, it was set on the google drive and filled out by a total of 202 students from the School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb and 30 additional students from other Faculties. Students also assessed their overall level of stress on the Likert scale (1=no stress, 5=highest level of stress. Internal consistency was tested on 202 dental students; test-retest reliability on 30 dental students who filled out the same questionnaire twice; convergent validity on 202 dental students; and divergent validity on 202 dental students and 30 students from faculties not belonging to the biomedicine group. Results: Internal consistency showed high Cronbach alpha coefficient (0.9 and test-retest reliability showed no significant difference (P>0.05 within the period of 14 days when stress level had not changed (vacation. Convergent validity was confirmed by the significant association between the DES summary scores and the self- perceived level of stress (Spearman’s rho=0.881; P<0.001. Divergent validity was confirmed by significantly lower DES summary scores in students not belonging to the Biomedicine group (t=7.5, P<0.001. Conclusion: Excellent psychometric properties of the Croatian version of the DES questionnaire enable its utilization for assessment of stress level in Croatian dental students.

Vocabulary of Emotions Test (VET: A Cross-cultural Validation in Portuguese and Croatian Contexts

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Ana Costa

2011-12-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the adaptation and cross-cultural validation of the Vocabulary of Emotions Test (VET in the Portuguese and Croatian contexts, an Emotional Intelligence ability measure with 35 items, which assesses individual's ability to understand emotion. Based on Mayer and Salovey's (1997 theoretical framework of emotional intelligence, VET was originally developed in Croatian academic settings by Takšić, Harambašić and Velemir (2003. This study involved 1119 secondary school students, 682 Portuguese and 437 Croatian, attending different grades and courses. Overall, in both Croatian (original version and Portuguese (adapted version contexts, VET evidenced good psychometric properties particularly concerning sensibility, difficulty item analysis and reliability, although slightly better indicators were found in the Croatian original version. Moreover, cultural and gender differences were found, benefiting Portuguese students and girls.

Natural characteristics of Croatian littoral area as a comparative advantage for nautical tourism development

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Srećko Favro

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Having in mind Croatian littoral area with its unique attractive coast and islands, it can be said that nautical tourism is absolutely authentic and distinctly recognizable Croatian "tourist product". In spite of numerous comparative advantages, Croatian nautical tourism still has not taken the right place on the market of Mediterranean nautical tourism. Future development of nautical tourism with its complementary activities – nautical economy, should be considered as the driving force for social and economic development of Croatian coastal area and islands, and it should be correctly dimensioned in accordance with carrying capacity of the geographical basis and sustainable development principles. Adequate valorization of Croatia’s most important resources, coast and islands, based on sustainable development principles and long-term systematic actions would improve social and economic position of Croatian Adriatic area.

Managing the Cash and Liquidity of the Croatian Budget

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Anto Bajo

2005-06-01

Full Text Available The principal proposition this paper will endeavour to maintain is that the liquidity of the budget is not fully managed by the Ministry of Finance, which is why it is unable, in collaboration with the Croatian National Bank, to rein in and slow down the growth in short-term public debt. Only since 2001, thanks to institutional improvements, have the conditions been created in the Ministry of Finance for cash and liquidity management. Thus payments operations, previously in the hands of a government institution, were taken over by the banks; the financial operations of budgetary spending agencies were channelled via the Single Account of the Treasury; and government deposits were gradually transferred from numerous commercial banks to the Single Account of the Treasury in the Croatian National Bank and the state-owned Croatian Postal Bank. Unfortunately, however, the Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Croatian National Bank, still carries out no operation of cash and liquidity management within the government Treasury system, nor does it operate on the money market with its surplus budgetary resources. Because of this state of affairs, management of the cash and liquidity of the central government budget is within the purview of the commercial banks.

[Publications in the Croatian medical journals by doctoral candidates at University of Zagreb School of Medicine].

Science.gov (United States)

Sember, Marijan; Petrak, Jelka

2014-01-01

By searching Medline/PubMed bibliographic database we collected data on publications of two groups of PhD candidates who earned their PhD degrees at University of Zagreb Medical School in 2000 and 2010. We identifed their publications in the Croatian medical journals and separately in the Croatian language. First group of PhD candidates (y 2000) published in the Croatian journals 34% of all published papers, with a share of 29% in the Croatian language. Another group (y 2010) published in the Croatian journals 44% of all published papers in which the number of papers published in the Croatian journals in English language grow significantly (5% vs. 31%). The number of papers published in the Croatian language decreased to 13%. Our results agreed with the global decreasing trend of the number of medical papers in non-English languages. The importance of mother-tongue in the medical education and health care may have influence on preserving scientific communication in non-English medical journals.

Comparative analysis of entrepreneurial orientation of Croatian and Sweden students

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Najla Podrug

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the comparison of entrepreneurial orientation of Croatian and Swedish students. Croatian students show significantly lower entrepreneurial intention than Swedish students, and positive attitudes are more frequent with Swedish students. Design/methodology/approach – The cross-cultural research strategy used in this study was a narrowsample strategy which is based on a survey questionnaire comparison of the similar subcultures in different countries. Findings – Croatian students show significantly lower entrepreneurial intention, while positive entrepreneurial attitudes are more frequent with Swedish students. Interestingly, Swedish students consider the entrepreneurial climate to be more evident in their schools. This finding is especially significant if one considers the significantly lower entrepreneurial education of Swedish than Croatian students. Research limitations/implications – Conclusions based on this research are tentative and require further comparison including representatives of other cultures and faculties. Another limitation is identified through additional option of changing intentions and other factors of entrepreneurial orientation, and therefore would longitudinal research of tracking changes of entrepreneurial orientation over the years of study, as well as after studies, along with exploring the reasons of changing them, be desirable. The size of the sample of respondents appears as another potential limitation. Originality/value – Confidence in their own entrepreneurial skills for Croatian students is dependent on the support of the environment, which is not the case with Swedish students whose confidence depends solely on how individually entrepreneurial they are.

COLLOCATION PHRASES IN RELATION TO OTHER LEXICAL PHRASES IN CROATIAN

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Goranka Blagus Bartolec

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper analyzes the semantic and lexicological aspects of collocation phrases in Croatian with tendency to separate them from other lexical phrases in Croatian (terms, idioms, names. The collocation phrase is defined as a special lexical phrase on a syntagmatic level, based on the semantic correlation of the two individual lexical components in which their meanings are specified.

Employees older than 50 on Croatian labour market – need for a new approach

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Srecko Goic

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Croatia has reached demographic maturity, with ever lower cohorts of youngers (and younger labour force numbers, longer life expectations, and rapidly growing share of older population. In such situation, working population older than 50 becomes more and more significant, not only by number, but also as an important pool of knowledge and experiences. 28,36% of total employed in Croatia in 2014 were 50+ years old. That same year (2014 27,7% of total unemployed in Croatia were 50+ years old. The share of persons 50+ in total number of unemployed grew to 29,6% in 2015, and 31,7% in 2016. Long duration of unemployment is especially accentuated among persons older than 50: in 2016 older persons made 41,91% among those with unemployment duration between 2 and 3 years, 44,00% among those with unemployment duration between 4 and 5 years, 53,23% among those with unemployment duration between 6 and 8 years, and even 70,04% among those with unemployment duration over 8 years. Although Croatian governments for almost quarter of century were devising different “active labour market policies” directed to older persons, their results are questionable. With growing problems to acquire and retain necessary workforce in Croatian enterprises, there is obviously strong need to develop new approach (es towards people older than 50. This paper is trying to shed new light on this problem and offer new ideas in the field of labour market policies, and human resources management oriented towards older employees in Croatia. The Croatian example (changes, problems, and experiences may be of interest to other, particularly European, countries in a similar situation.

Croatian visit

CERN Multimedia

2004-01-01

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. 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.

Implications of the Croatian Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lokner, V.; Levanat, I.

2012-01-01

Croatian Government approved its national Radioactive waste and Spent Fuel Strategy as a part of the accession process to EU in July 2009 enabling acquisition of adequate administrative capacity by the time of accession to properly implement and enforce the relevant legislation in all areas related to nuclear safety. Strategy was formulated in line with the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. In particular, the strategy was approved to ensure that sufficient qualified staff and adequate financial services are available to support the safety of facilities for spent fuel and radioactive waste management generated by Krsko NPP during their operating lifetime and from decommissioning. Following are statements from the Croatian strategy that are relevant for Croatian position regarding capacity building for storage and disposal of LILW and SF. To be able to fulfill the obligations assumed, Croatia needs to do the following (Strategy Section 3.3): reach an agreement with Slovenia by 2013 at the latest regarding the location of objects for storing LILW; should no such agreement be reached, Croatia is to initiate preparations for assuming its half of operational LILW and for third-country export thereof, or for storing the LILW on Croatian territory, whilst also gradually assuming the part of LILW created from decommissioning; reach an agreement with Slovenia by 2018 at the latest regarding the location of a common SF storage; should no such agreement be reached, initiate preparations for assuming a third-country export of SF, or for storing half of SF on Croatian territory. This paper discusses the Strategy aims in the light of noticeable delay of 2nd revision of the Program of NPP Krsko Decommissioning and SF andLILW Disposal, the status of the planned Slovenian national repository on Vrbina site and the prospects of its use for joint Croatian/Slovenian LILW disposal - all in the context of as yet

Engineering Job Skills in Croatian Economy: Employers’ Perspective

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Nikša Dubreta

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Different actors, or stakeholders, are interested and want to participate in discussions and interventions related to the topic of skills as an important outcome of engineering education. In the Croatian context, the entire process is still predominantly internally driven and determined by academic evaluations while the involvement of the alumni and employers as external stakeholders is sporadic and under researched. Since Croatian employers are not sufficiently familiar with the levels and structures of reformed study programs, the main objective of this research was to assess to what extent the current and largely accepted set of engineering skills fit their expectations. By reviewing available literature, 36 key skills were identified and used in a questionnaire administrated to Croatian employers, resulting in 418 completed and usable responses. Results show that employers find every assessed skill as somewhat/extremely valuable. However, it is found that employers most valued skills related to the wider set of transferable skills with somewhat greater emphases on skills that reflect professionalism and work ethic. In general, it turned out that employers approach transferable skills in terms of their functionality. Mean comparison within subgroups has shown statistically significant differences with regard to respondent’s gender. In general, women fit the theorized dimensions more than their male counterparts, perhaps indicating that they understand all skills, and transferable skills in particular, more holistically than men. Finally, in order to understand the underlying structure of the explored items, exploratory factor analysis was employed, resulting in 8 clear dimensions suggesting engineering “employability skills” in the Croatian context.

[Croatian Medical Association--Branch Zagreb].

Science.gov (United States)

Kaić, Zvonimir; Sain, Snjezana; Gulić, Mirjana; Mahovlić, Vjekoslav; Krznarić, Zeljko

2014-01-01

The available literature shows us that "Druztvo ljeciteljah u Zagrebus (the Society of Healers in Zagreb) was founded as far back as the year 1845 by a total of thirteen members. This data allows us to follow the role of doctors and health workers in Zagreb through their everyday profession, research, organizational and social work as well as management through a period of over one hundred to seventy years. The Branch Zagreb was active before the official establishment of subsidiaries of CMA which is evident from the minutes of the regular annual assembly of the Croatian Medical Association on 21 March 1948. Until the end of 1956, there was no clear division of labor, functions and competencies between the Branch and the Main Board. Their actions were instead consolidated and the Branch operated within and under the name of Croatian Medical Association. In that year the Branch became independent. The Branch Zagreb is the largest and one of the most active branches of the Croatian Medical Association. At the moment, the Branch brings together 3621 members, regular members--doctors of medicine (2497), doctors of dental medicine (384), retired physicians (710), and associate members (30 specialists with higher education who are not doctors). The Branch is especially accomplished in its activities in the area of professional development of its members and therefore organizes a series of scientific conferences in the framework of continuous education of physicians, allowing its members to acquire necessary points for the extension of their operating license. The choir "Zagrebacki lijecnici pjevaci" (Zagreb Physicians' Choir) of the Croatian Medical Music Society of the CMA and its activities are inseparable from the Branch Zagreb. The Branch is firmly linked to the parent body, the CMA, and thus has a visible impact on the strategy and the activities of the Association as a whole. Most professional societies of the CMA have their headquarters in Zagreb and this is

Transformation of Croatian Disabled Policy: Analysis of Policy Goals

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Ana Petek

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The article is based on the idea of transformation of the policy-making mode of Croatian disabled policy, from the medical model, through the social model to the human rights model. The paper highlights 7 elements according to which these models differ, and which are structured into categories of problem-definition, goal-determination and then implementation of disabled policy. The analysis is focused on the goals of Croatian disabled policy, and is based on an interdisciplinary research project of political science, special education and social work. Empirical data were collected by document analysis, by interviewing relevant policy actors and by a survey with the members of representative bodies on all government levels. With the discourse analysis of documents, open coding of interviews and statistical analysis of data collected in the survey, the paper attempts, through the indicator of activity of persons with disability, to answer to what extent Croatian disabled policy is transformed into human rights policy.

First Glossary of Modern Physics and Ionising Radiation Protection in Croatian

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nodilo, M.; Petkovic, T.

2011-01-01

Motivation and encouragement for the Glossary were given as the research theme for the joint seminar between the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing and Rudjer Boskovic Institute, within a postgraduate course subject ''Detectors and electronic instrumentation for particle physics''. A basic motivation is due to a lack of specialized literature in Croatian language in the field of protection of ionising radiation as well as the incompleteness of Croatian terminology in the same field. That is a general problem all over the World because the most glossaries are usually connected either with nuclear power plants or with an application of ionising radiation in medicine. On the other hand, a necessity for the specialized literature for radiation protection which follows a development of modern particle physics and its detection technique is rapidly growing up. A work and development on the Glossary were faced with serious difficulties, since various translations of foreign words and acronyms have already been used by various authors in Croatian literature. Different interpretations of the same term or concept, from diverse sources, had to be very often reconciled. However, the biggest challenge was finding proper Croatian words for the foreign terms, concepts, properties, and quantities which have not yet been commonly used so far in Croatian papers or/and Croatian legislative acts. According to our knowledge this seems to be the first comprehensive Glossary, describing the field of ionising radiation protection and bringing of 300 related entries (terms and guidelines). That is, certainly, the first characteristic Thesaurus in Croatian which includes background of modern physics and chemistry, particle phenomenology and its measurement, all dedicated to the radiological protection of workers, environment and people of the World. A Glossary brings a wide spectrum of terms of broad area of chemistry, radiation protection, nuclear and particle physics. A

Market Orientation in Managing Relationships with Multiple Constituencies of Croatian Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Pavicic, Jurica; Alfirevic, Niksa; Mihanovic, Zoran

2009-01-01

In this paper, market orientation in Croatian higher education (HE) is discussed within the context of stakeholder-oriented management. Drawing on existing studies, the "classical" empirical model, describing the market orientation of generic nonprofit organisations, has been adapted to the contingencies of the Croatian HE sector.…

[The population and economic problems of South Asia].

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, J

1983-07-29

South Asia, which includes Central South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Southwest Asia, had a comparatively higher population growth rate during the 30-year postwar period because of the overall backward economy and strong religious tradition. From the viewpoint of economics, the high population growth in South Asia has slowed down economic growth, increased the foreign trade imblance, and worsened poverty. Secondly, the rapid population growth has overburdened the area's educational system. The illiteracy rate has been going up continuously because of inadequate funds available for education. Thirdly, young labor is lacking in skills, training, and work experience, and related productivity has declined. Consequently, profits, the investment capability, and wages are also declining. The problems of the oversupply of labor, unemployment, and poverty have also become increasingly serious. In addition, the rapid population growth has intensified the pressure on the food supply and worsened the average nutrition of the general public. In recent years, countries in South Asia have been trying to deal with various problems caused by the rapid population growth. Measures have been taken to control the population growth, with a redistribution of the population to places outside cities, and export labor to oil-producing nations of the Middle East and Africa in order to solve the problem of the domestic labor surplus and earn more income for the foreign exchange. Countries in South Asia need more time and effort to achieve a balance between the population growth and economic development.

Exchange Market Pressure on the Croatian Kuna

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Srđan Tatomir

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Currency crises exert strong pressure on currencies often causing costly economic adjustment. A measure of exchange market pressure (EMP gauges the severity of such tensions. Measuring EMP is important for monetary authorities that manage exchange rates. It is also relevant in academic research that studies currency crises. A precise EMP measure is therefore important and this paper reexamines the measurement of EMP on the Croatian kuna. It improves it by considering intervention data and thresholds that account for the EMP distribution. It also tests the robustness of weights. A discussion of the results demonstrates a modest improvement over the previous measure and concludes that the new EMP on the Croatian kuna should be used in future research.

South Asian populations in Canada: migration and mental health

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background South Asian populations are the largest visible minority group in Canada; however, there is very little information on the mental health of these populations. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence rates and characteristics of mental health outcomes for South Asian first-generation immigrant and second-generation Canadian-born populations. Methods The Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2011 was used to calculate the estimated prevalence rates of the following mental health outcomes: mood disorders, anxiety disorders, fair-poor self-perceived mental health status, and extremely stressful life stress. The characteristics associated with these four mental health outcomes were determined through multivariate logistic regression analysis of merged CCHS 2007–2011 data. Results South Asian Canadian-born (3.5%, 95% CI 3.4-3.6%) and South Asian immigrant populations (3.5%, 95% CI 3.5-3.5%) did not vary significantly in estimated prevalence rates of mood disorders. However, South Asian immigrants experienced higher estimated prevalence rates of diagnosed anxiety disorders (3.4%, 95% CI 3.4-3.5 vs. 1.1%, 95% CI 1.1-1.1%) and self-reported extremely stressful life stress (2.6%, 95% CI 2.6-2.7% vs. 2.4%, 95% CI 2.3-2.4%) compared to their Canadian-born counterparts. Lastly, South Asian Canadian-born populations had a higher estimated prevalence rate of poor-fair self-perceived mental health status (4.4%, 95% CI 4.3-4.5%) compared to their immigrant counterparts (3.4%, 95% CI 3.3-3.4%). Different profiles of mental health determinants emerged for South Asian Canadian-born and immigrant populations. Female gender, having no children under the age of 12 in the household, food insecurity, poor-fair self-rated health status, being a current smoker, immigrating to Canada before adulthood, and taking the CCHS survey in either English or French was associated with greater risk of negative mental health outcomes for South Asian immigrant

Air transportation and tourism in the Croatian littoral

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Slaven Gašparović

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyse and explain the impact of air transportation on the development of tourism in the Croatian littoral. The analysis was made by using the data collected from flight schedules and airport authorities. The data on frequency of lines and number of passengers were analysed in order to correlate the distribution of the number of passengers with the number of tourists during the year. In this case, the correlation between the number of passengers and the number of arrivals/number of overnight stays is observed. Data for the time period from 2008 till 2010 were analysed in more detail by dividing the passengers into four categories: full-service passengers, low-cost passengers, charter passengers and general aviation passengers. Major touristic markets are identified on the basis of the number of connections between European and Croatian littoral airports. The last part of the paper deals with the increasing impact of low-cost services on the development of tourism in the Croatian littoral region. This is due to the fact that low-cost carriers have accounted for a considerable part of air transport in the last few years.

Application of hydrogen energy in the tourism development strategy of the croatian islands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vujcic, R. [Brodosplit-Institute, Split (Croatia); Josopovic, Z. [Chroatian Chamber of Economy, County Chamber Split, Split (Croatia); Matejcic, F. [The County of Split and Dalmatia, Split (Croatia)

1998-07-01

Croatian islands represent the most valuable resources of Croatian tourism. The recently adopted Development Strategy of the Croatian Tourism Sector contains the basic terms of reference for the formulation of a quality island tourism development concept. For such a development program it is imperative to establish new, environmentally compatible power system suitable to ensure sufficient quantities of high quality power. One of the viable possibilities to ensure sufficient quantity of quality power is a hydrogen power system based on renewable energy sources (solar and/or wind energy). 9 refs.

Croatian small islands – residential and/or leisure area

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Josip Faričić

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses modern geographic processes on Croatian small inhabited islands. For centuries, Croatian small islands have been continuously inhabited area characterized by different social and economic activities. However, in the last several decades, the islands have experienced a severe depopulation, and on the other hand, the interest for occasional use of that attractive insular space for recreational purposes increased. Consequently, the basic insular functions have changed, which, among other things, contributes to changes of insular landscape and to the changed role of small islands in regional socio-economic systems.

The Ethnopsychological Framework of the Croatian and Serbian Nations

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Ivo Rendić-Miočević

2000-06-01

Full Text Available The author proceeds from the opinion of E. Gellner that nationalism creates nations, and not vice versa. In South-East Europe homogeneity has been brought about through a traditional model, wherein archetypes and psychological matrices, especially those based on hajduk (bandit myths, proved to be persistent during the 20th century, even in its closing decades. As the historical framework in his analysis, the author uses the concept of Illyricum, and not of the Balkans. The later term was invented only at the beginning of the 20th century and it does not have any historical, cultural or geographic validity. In research on the problem of nationalism and nations in South-East Europe it is possible to apply an ethnopsychological approach, in which Freudian theories can be of great help. In order to understand archetypes that still survive in the area of ancient Illyricum, one must analyse three historical models that were formed during the long centuries in this region: 1 the Croatian-Pannonian feudal model as well as the Mediterranean one in the West, 2 the patriarchal model in the mid-areas, 3 the Serbian “despotic” model in the East. In regard to patriarchal society, the author recognises in its ideology (national songs, myths etc. the Kraljević Marko syndrome (with projections, paranoia and narcism as its symptoms. The author emphasises that the parental super-ego is transferred to children, and so becomes the upholding factor of tradition and values. Mediaeval Serbia, in which Church and State were linked, had a different social development from European society. “Oriental despotism” as a dominant type can be seen in Serbian history from the Nemanjić period, through the Ottoman epoch to the modern Serbian state. During the Ottoman period, a homogeneous national culture prevailed, which was deeply marked by the Dinaric heritage. Stimulating paranoia and projects in the population, the modern state, assisted by the Church, threatened

Croatian Capacity for Management of the NPP Krsko Radioactive Waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levanat, Ivica; Lokner, Vladimir

2014-01-01

Together with Slovenia, Croatia is responsible for management of the NPP Krsko radioactive waste and spent fuel. So far, no firm agreement on specific solutions has been reached between the two countries. On the contrary, all activities related to revision and development of the joint Program of the NPP decommissioning and spent fuel and radioactive waste management were discontinued several years ago. Unless Slovenia and Croatia definitely agree on joint solutions in the meantime, Croatia will have to begin transfer of one half of the NPP Krsko spent fuel and radioactive waste into its territory in about nine years. Presently, however, Croatian capacities for such an undertaking are seriously inadequate in several respects, and they are not developing in any promising way. For no rational reason, this state of the Croatian capacities has been maintained (recently even deteriorating in some respects) for at least a decade, disregarding also for at least two years the explicit requirements of the EU Directive 2011/70/EURATOM aimed at establishing a Community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. In fall of 2012, Fund for financing the NPP Krsko decommissioning and spent fuel and radioactive waste disposal was appointed as the Croatian expert organization for revision and development of the program of these same activities it had originally been supposed only to finance. In 2013 the Fund expanded its activities to a low-profile attempt at revitalization of the Croatian radioactive waste repository project, although the Fund is not yet properly capacitated for either of these tasks. The above is hardly in compliance with the Directive requirements, such as to establish 'a national legislative, regulatory and organisational framework' 'that allocates responsibility... between relevant competent bodies'. The lack of competent experts in the field appears to affect the quality of Croatian legislative

Nomenclature and Terminology of Organic Chemistry. I. Sixty Years of Croatian Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry

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Rapić, V.

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This article describes the history and development of the Croatian nomenclature of organic chemistry from the publication of the first translation of international nomenclature recommendations to the present age. In the Introduction, trivial, common, systematic (rational, and semisystematic names are defined, and the etymology and meaning of terms nomenclature and terminology are clarified.At the beginning of the central part of this article, attention is focused on the need to create our national nomenclature. The very first such project, initiated by the Croatian Chemical Society (CCS, was the translation of the Geneva (1892 and Lie`ge rules (1930 published in 1954. In 1979 comprehensive general IUPAC rules appeared, and the Croatian Society of Chemical Engineers (CSCE in two volumes printed the Croatian edition of this important document, known as the Blue Book, in 1985 and 1988. A Guide to IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Compounds (1993 expanded the main principles and rules from the Blue Book, and introduced a higher degree of organic nomenclature systematization. The Croatian translation of the Guide was published in 2002. In the last six decades, almost fifty translations of international rules have been issued, and almost all of them represented the official recommendations of the CCS/CSCE. Finally, the nomenclature in the translations of five comprehensive textbooks fororganic chemistry is analysed.In conclusion, readers are informed that the Croatian version of IUPAC rules is applied in our secondary school and university education, in Croatian encyclopaedism and mass media, as well.

Population policy in South Africa: a critical perspective.

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Klugman, B

1991-02-01

The argument in this article is that population growth and the concept of balancing resources against population growth is flawed when the context, in this case South Africa, is gross inequalities in resource distribution. The fact is that causes of poverty are located in the social and political structures which give people unequal access to existing resources or international aid. Population trends reflect the mode of production of that society. It is argued that the Malthusian law of population and the theory of demographic transition is ahistorical and inaccurate. The theory does not explain why population growth rates change. In South Africa, fertility reflects lack of control over one's life and poverty. Migrant labor in South Africa undermined normal social institutions and disrupted family life. Government has emphasized a fear of a future population crisis because of resource shortages and a fear of the growing black population. The South African population development program is extracted and discussed. Questions are raised about the theory of demographic transition, the way resource allocation is ascertained, the relationship between resources and population in a specific area, and the relationship between population growth and development in general. The theory of demographic transition is examined and the Western influences which contributed to population growth through requests for changes in sexual mores and the effects of colonization. When demographic transition theory postulates that mortality rates decline with industrialization as a result of access to medical care and an improved diet, it doesn't take into account the discriminatory health care allocation under apartheid, or the displacement of rural people from their land and undermining of the rural peasantry. Separate development has led to inferior schooling and lack of access to skilled employment. In discussing the availability of resources in South Africa, the question is raised as to

In search of a Croatian model of nursing education.

Science.gov (United States)

Simunovic, Vladimir J; Zupanovic, Marija; Mihanovic, Frane; Zemunik, Tatijana; Bradaric, Nikola; Jankovic, Stipan

2010-10-01

To analyze the present status and ongoing reforms of nursing education in Europe, to compare it with the situation in Croatia, and to propose a new educational model that corresponds to the needs of the Croatian health care system. The literature on contemporary nursing education in Europe and North America was reviewed, together with European Commission directives and regulations, as well as pertinent World Health Organization documents. In addition, 20 recent annual reports from 2003-2009, submitted by national nursing associations to the Workgroup of European Nurse Researchers (WERN), were studied. After appraisal of current trends, the Working Group on Reform of Nursing Education drafted The Croatian Model for Education in Nursing and developed a three-cycle curriculum with syllabus. The proposed curriculum is radically different from traditional ones. Responding to modern demands, it focuses on outcomes (developing competencies) and is evidence-based. A new, Croatian concept of nursing education is presented that is concordant with reforms in nursing education in other European countries. It holds promise for making nursing education an integral part of a unified European system of higher education.

Long memory in the Croatian and Hungarian stock market returns

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Silvo Dajčman

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to analyze and compare the fractal structure of the Croatian and Hungarian stock market returns. The presence of long memory components in asset returns provides evidence against the weak-form of stock market efficiency. The starting working hypothesis that there is no long memory in the Croatian and Hungarian stock market returns is tested by applying the Kwiatkowski-Phillips-Schmidt-Shin (KPSS (1992 test, Lo’s (1991 modified rescaled range (R/S test, and the wavelet ordinary least squares (WOLS estimator of Jensen (1999. The research showed that the WOLS estimator may lead to different conclusions regarding long memory presence in the stock returns from the KPSS and unit root tests or Lo’s R/S test. Furthermore, it proved that the fractal structure of individual stock returns may be masked in aggregated stock market returns (i.e. in returns of stock index. The main finding of the paper is that both the Croatian stock index Crobex and individual stocks in this index exhibit long memory. Long memory is identified for some stocks in the Hungarian stock market as well, but not for the stock market index BUX. Based on the results of the long memory tests, it can be concluded that while the Hungarian stock market is weakform efficient, the Croatian stock market is not.

ANGLICISMS IN THE ECONOMIC TERMINOLOGY OF THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE AND THE STANDARD LANGUAGE NORM

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Branka Drljača

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The standard language norm fulfils two basic requirements: stability of language and its development. The former covers replacing of foreign terms with Croatian equivalents or at least their adaptation according to the rules of the Croatian language. The latter implies fulfilling new lexical needs. The economic power of the United States of America is reflected in the influence of the English language on term-formation in Croatian. Acceptance of lexical innovations is primarily gained due to the language of the media.

Esperanto (s)en perspektivo? Croatian Esperantists on the International Language Esperanto

OpenAIRE

Puškar, Krunoslav

2015-01-01

To our knowledge, there is to date no significant number of sociological studies dealing with the Esperanto movement, and there are even fewer sociolinguistic explorations of the whole Esperanto phenomenon. Concentrating on the Croatian Esperanto movement, we conducted an extensive study of Croatian Esperantists? attitudes towards the structure of Esperanto, and their perception of the Esperanto movement and the overall Esperanto phenomenon - aspects still conspicuously missing in recent Espe...

DO WE NEED A NEW HISTORY OF CROATIAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE?

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Berislav Majhut

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study shows that the essence of contemporary accounts of the history of Croatian children’s literature lies in its picture created by the theoretician of children’s literature Milan Crnković (1925 – 1988 in the 1970s. Crnković’s history of Croatian children’s literature has served as the basis of almost all most important historical and theoretical works in this field. The paper will analyze the content of his historical paradigm: its beginning, specific characteristics, the development of literary genres, the creation of the canon and historical and social circumstances. The paper aims to find out which historical and literary- historical developments had a decisive impact at the time when Crnković wrote the main works for his history. In addition, the reasons why this paradigm may no longer be able to satisfy the need for a solid theoretical basis of contemporary research of children’s literature are considered. The paper points out that Crnković was not able to produce a satisfactory picture of Croatian children’s literature because his research data were mostly based on children’s magazines of that time. In his research Crnković establishes that Croatian children’s literature begins with the literature written by teachers. Also, it is important to mention that due to circumstantial restrictions Crnković did not thoroughly explore the period from 1941 to 1955. Our reexamination of the basic elements of Crnković’s paradigm points out that it is necessary to reevaluate some of the main authors and works in order to shed new light on Croatian children’s literature.

E-Learning in Croatian Higher Education: An Analysis of Students' Perceptions

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Dukić, Darko; Andrijanić, Goran

2010-06-01

Over the last years, e-learning has taken an important role in Croatian higher education as a result of strategies defined and measures undertaken. Nonetheless, in comparison to the developed countries, the achievements in e-learning implementation are still unsatisfactory. Therefore, the efforts to advance e-learning within Croatian higher education need to be intensified. It is further necessary to undertake ongoing activities in order to solve possible problems in e-learning system functioning, which requires the development of adequate evaluation instruments and methods. One of the key steps in this process would be examining and analyzing users' attitudes. This paper presents a study of Croatian students' perceptions with regard to certain aspects of e-learning usage. Given the character of this research, adequate statistical methods were required for the data processing. The results of the analysis indicate that, for the most part, Croatian students have positive perceptions of e-learning, particularly as support to time-honored forms of teaching. However, they are not prepared to completely give up the traditional classroom. Using factor analysis, we identified four underlying factors of a collection of variables related to students' perceptions of e-learning. Furthermore, a certain number of statistically significant differences in student attitudes have been confirmed, in terms of gender and year of study. In our study we used discriminant analysis to determine discriminant functions that distinguished defined groups of students. With this research we managed to a certain degree to alleviate the current data insufficiency in the area of e-learning evaluation among Croatian students. Since this type of learning is gaining in importance within higher education, such analyses have to be conducted continuously.

Dietary intake of Croatian lactating women

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Greta Krešić

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Nutritional inadequacies during lactation may affect the well-being of both the mother and the infant. For this reason, breast-feeding women usually pay attention to their dietary practice during the breast-feeding period. The aim of this study was to examine changes in dietary intake of Croatian lactating women during six months postpartum. The study sample consisted of 83 lactating women whose diet records were collected at three measurements rounds: at 1 ± 0.25, 3 ± 0.25 and 6 ± 0.25 months postpartum. The mothers´ diets were investigated using two consecutive 24-hour dietary recalls. Energy and nutrient intakes were estimated using a nutritional database. The obtained results have shown that the diet of Croatian lactating women is hypocaloric (65.73 – 79.52 % DRI, p < 0.001 and deficient in magnesium, zinc, vitamins A, B1, B6, D and folate. Also evident was a moderate imbalance in the distribution of energy percentages from macronutrients. During six months postpartum, lactating women continuously decreased food intake resulting in a gradual decrease in energy intake (p < 0.001 and in the intake of all micronutrients. However, during six months postpartum, lactating women increased the share of total fat in energy intake (p = 0.006 and the share of saturated fatty acids (p = 0.048, while the share of monounsaturated fatty acids in total energy intake decreased (p = 0.004. It could be concluded that it is worthwhile to further study the nutritional status of Croatian lactating women during this vulnerable period especially regarding their micronutrients intake in order to achieve the recommended dietary requirements.

Environmental challenges for sustainable development in the Croatian North Adriatic littoral region

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Jelena Lončar

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents some geographical aspects of sustainable development in a part of the North Adriatic region in the Republic of Croatia. This sensitive region is confronted with problems of space management, water supply, waste management, transportation and energy, especially during the tourist season because of the pressure on infrastructure in the coastal region where there is a great concentration of population and tourist capacities. Another environmental problem is the oil transportation by a pipeline which is planned to be built in the frames of Russian-Croatian project Družba-Adria.

Planning the rad waste repository - Croatian case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kucar Dragicevic, S.; Subasic, D.; Lokner, V.

1996-01-01

Radioactive waste is generated in Croatia from various nuclear applications as well as from the Krsko NPP (Slovenian and Croatian joint venture facility). The national programme on radioactive waste management is aimed at straightening existing infrastructure, establishing new (more transparent) system of responsibilities and development of new legislation. The siting of LL/ILW repository is important segments of the whole radioactive waste management cycle. The status and efficiency of the rad waste management infrastructure in the country have the significant influence on all the activities related to the project of repository construction - from the very first phases of preliminary planning and background preparations to advanced phases of the project development. The present status of the Croatian national radioactive waste infrastructure and its influence on the repository project are presented. The role of national legislation and institutional framework are specially discussed. (author)

Liquidity indicator for the Croatian economy – Factor analysis approach

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Mirjana Čižmešija

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Croatian business surveys (BS are conducted in the manufacturing industry, retail trade and construction sector. In all of these sectors, manager´s assessments of liquidity are measured. The aim of the paper was to form a new composite liquidity indicator by including business survey liquidity measures from all three covered economic sectors in the Croatian economy mentioned above. In calculating the leading indicator, a factor analysis approach was used. However, this kind of indicator does not exist in a Croatia or in any other European economy. Furthermore, the issue of Croatian companies´ illiquidity is highly neglected in the literature. The empirical analysis consists of two parts. In the first part the new liquidity indicator was formed using factor analysis. One factor (representing the new liquidity indicator; LI was extracted out of the three liquidity variables in three economic sectors. This factor represents the new liquidity indicator. In the second part, econometric models were applied in order to investigate the forecasting properties of the new business survey liquidity indicator, when predicting the direction of changes in Croatian industrial production. The quarterly data used in the research covered the period from January 2000 to April 2013. Based on econometric analysis, it can be concluded that the LI is a leading indicator of Croatia’s industrial production with better forecasting properties then the standard liquidity indicators (formed in a manufacturing industry.

Perspectives of Corporate Governance in Croatian Banking Sector

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Tea Golja

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Financial market of any country firstly has to be “secure”, but although financial market is regulated and monitored, we were witnesses of bad examples (Island. So, globally all aspects of corporate governance became interesting: ownership; nature of activities; liquidity ratios, etc. The goal of this paper is to give perspectives of corporate governance in Croatian banking sector. The results of the research conducted in October 2010 are presented. The situation regarding corporate governance issues in banks is highlighted. According to the research in Croatian banks in the future corporate governance should give more attention to responsiveness; equity; efficiency and effectiveness; and on accountability. Mentioned principles are not clearly defined and recognizable. These will assure differentiation on market and trust of all stakeholders.

The trend of dystopia in contemporary Croatian prose

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Igor Gajin

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In contemporary Croatian prose from 2010 to the present day, there has been an abundant series of novels with dystopian content that has introduced, so to speak, a new genre in the Croatian literary tradition, since in the diachrony of this national literature the dystopian themes have barely been represented. The paper intends to construe the cultural context of the cause of this phenomenon and point to the link in the structure of feelings formed by the processes of transition, globalization and neoliberal capitalism with the manifestation of the intensification of the dystopian genre as a motivated discursive manoeuvre by which social criticism is moved from the present “realistic prose” to “fantasy” imaginings of the future.

Serbo-Croatian. SC-15A. Part 3. Advanced Grammar and Syntax,

Science.gov (United States)

1983-09-01

Skolska, Knjiga Zagreb, 1979, helped me write this textbook on advanced Serbo-Croatian grammar and syntax. I am indebted to the above colleagues for...student to read, write , and speak Serbo-Croatian in a grammatically and stylistically correct manner. Perfective verbs, as we already know, may indicate...umakli (sigurno biste zelefi umaci). Pucao bi nam u lecra (mogao/ ielt -c bi nam pucati u leda). The C I. examples clearly connote desire, while the C II

Urban population and economic growth: South Asia perspective

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Sandip Sarker

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Previously economic growth was generally discussed in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI, educational growth, savings, investments, inflation as well as trade openness of a nation. Very recently it has been identified that population is one of the major determinants of economic growth of a nation. In the recent years, the study of urbanization has gained a matter of concern in developing countries as it has been recognized as part of a larger process of economic development which is affecting developing countries. South Asian countries are one of the emerging economics and growing at a faster rate over the past few years. At the same time, population of South Asia is growing at a significant rate. Therefore the study has attempted to identify the causal relationship between urban population and economic growth in South Asia using a panel data analysis. The study makes use of the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF and Phillips-Perron (PP, Pesaran as well as Fisher methods for panel unit root test. The panel Pedroni cointegration test suggests that there is long run relationship between the variables. The further panel Vector Error Correction Model (VECM suggests that there is long run causality running from urban population growth to economic growth in South Asia. The study concludes that the growth of urban population can have significant impact on economic growth in South Asia in the long run.

The influence of outsourcing on achieving business goals in large Croatian companies

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Ivica Parlov

2004-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents results of a research conducted in large Croatian companies that intended to connect and establish eventual influences between the usage of outsourcing and achieving business goals in those companies. It was also meant to establish if (and in which segments outsourcing was being used in large Croatian companies, what were the main reasons for its use, if it was conducted according to specific plans and with tracking of achieved results, if expectations that surveyed companies had about outsourcing were met, and what are the future possibilities and perspectives of those companies regarding outsourcing. Many other useful data regarding outsourcing and goal achievement were also collected and linked together in order to establish eventual influences of outsourcing on the effectiveness of making business in large Croatian companies.

A Croatian delegation visits CERN

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

Professor Hrvoje Kraljeviç signing the Golden book with Professor Roger Cashmore. A Croatian delegation composed of the Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Hrvoje Kraljeviç, his deputy for international collaboration Prof. Davor Butkovic have visited CERN on the 12 and 13th of February and held talks with the CERN authorities, ALICE and CMS spokespersons on the possibilities to increase the participation of Croatia to the LHC related activities.

Umbilical Cord Management and Stump Care in Normal Childbirth in Slovenian and Croatian Maternity Hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Mivšek, Ana Polona; Petročnik, Petra; Skubic, Metka; Škodič Zakšek, Teja; Jug Došler, Anita

2017-12-01

The aim was to investigate first-care procedures for the newborn's umbilical cord at maternity hospitals in Slovenia and Croatia. The study was based on an empirical survey research approach and quantitative research paradigms and included all Slovenian (n=14) and all Croatian (n=35) maternity hospitals. Leaders of midwifery team of 14 Slovenian and 35 Croatian labor wards were invited to participate. The study was conducted in 2013, with 67% of Slovenian and 66% of Croatian maternity hospitals having responded. A causal and non-experimental method of empirical research was used. The research instrument was a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used on data analysis. The independence hypothesis was tested with the χ2-test or Kullback 2Î-test. A vast ma-jority of study wards employed delayed umbilical cord clamping, i.e. clamping the cord after pulsa-tion had ceased. Only 10% of Slovenian in comparison with 36.4% of Croatian maternity hospitals practiced dry cord care. Others applied disinfectant on the cord, in Slovenia most frequently 6% po-tassium permanganate, and in Croatia a combination of octenidine and phenoxyethanol. Most Croa-tian -maternity wards (95.7%) still covered the stump, while it was not regular practice in Slovenia. The authors estimate that the prevailing Slovenian and Croatian practices in regard to cord clamping are in accordance with the evidence, while improvements could be made regarding stump care, since dry cord care is the recommended method.

The Attitudes of Croatian Citizens toward Cultural Diversities

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Milan Mesić

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The paper is based on part of results of a representative national examination of Croatian citizens’ attitudes about cultural diversities in Croatian society. A field survey was conducted by using the personal interview method in the respondent’s household, within the framework of an omnibus research. By cultural diversities, the authors mean national and religious communities. In this respect, Croatia is culturally a heterogeneous political community like most countries of the contemporary world. Therefore, the relationship of its citizens to cultural and other diversities will become an increasingly important socio-political and scientific topic, and the authors hope that their research will help to sensitize the public in this regard. It was found, unexpectedly, that Croatian citizens in fact offer somewhat weaker “resistance to multicultural society” (as measured by Eurobarometer, since only 8 per cent in total said it was bad or very bad for the country. Namely, almost one in four (23 per cent Europeans did not agree with the statement that people of different ethnic or cultural backgrounds enrich their countries. Even in relation to the European Union, Croatian respondents expressed moderate optimism, because a fairly smaller number of them (42% from a comparative European average (48% believed that joining the European Union threatens national cultural identity. The impact or the lack of impact of socio-demographic characteristics of respondents coincides in part with similar trends in research, for example in the Netherlands. In this research, only three predictors of results on the scale of cultural exclusion turned out to be statistically significant: sex, degree of religiosity and national affiliation. In a great world comparative research project it was established that young people generally showed greater acceptance of cultural (and other diversities in their societies, and it should be pointed out that age did not act in

The ageing of Croatian population.

Science.gov (United States)

Murgić, Jure; Jukić, Tomislav; Tomek-Roksandić, Spomenka; Ljubicić, Mate; Kusić, Zvonko

2009-06-01

With a share of people older than 65 years of 16.64 per cent in total population, Croatia is considered a very old country regarding it's population. This percentage is one of the highest in already old Europe. Demographic projections reveal a further increase of share of people older than 65 years in future. There are many causes of this condition. This fact carries negative economic and health care implications which burden Croatia. Many administrative reforms are necessary to resolve this issue and to avoid economy problems and intergenerational conflicts.

Croatian Oil and Gas Market - an Area of Contact Between Europe and Asia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dragicevic, T.

2007-01-01

Croatia - a regional energy hub, a catchword that has been adopted even by politicians, denotes a combination of favourable geographical position and use of this advantage as a mediator in providing transmission services for natural gas, oil and electricity between Europe and Asia, as well as between the north and the south of the European continent. However, although the idea of regional energy hub has gained support, it is still at a turning point and may take three different directions: 1. If timely activities are undertaken for the implementation of the LNG terminal project and connecting of the JANAF oil pipeline with PEOP and/or Druzba Adria, the realisation of energy hub is possible; 2. In case of further delays in implementing the LNG terminal project and Druzba Adria oil pipeline, we will lose the opportunity for participation in major European projects for twenty years at least; 3. A possible solution may be sought in takeover of individual energy activities by large foreign energy companies that show interest for the Croatian energy market. This last option is very likely due to considerable interest by Central and East European energy companies. In the eve of the expected EU accession, any resistance to takeover may be qualified as economic nationalism. Only large, powerful nations enjoy the privilege that their resistance to foreign domination is qualified as economic patriotism. Since the year 2000 when preparations for INA's privatization began, there were indications of interest and aspiration of the Russian oil companies to ensure presence in the Croatian market. In the meantime the Russian companies evolved their strategies of penetration on the flanks of the European market in the form of North Stream pipeline over the Baltic Sea and South Stream through the Black Sea and Turkey. So, the Republic of Croatia is on the crossroad: it can take a secondary role in other players' strategy, or it can pursue its own strategy based on growth and security

Movements of Croatian Labour Supply and Their Implications on Migration Flows

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Alka Obadić

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The Croatian labour market is characterised by a low degree of activity on the part of the population, a high unemployment rate, a pronounced problem with long-term unemployment and a high structural disproportion between supply and demand. Because of the relatively high share of the unofficial economy, there is a large difference between the administrative unemployment rate and that shown by surveys. Analysis of the situation on the Croatian labour market shows that significant structural issues still remained unsolved (such as inflexibility, mismatch between supply and demand with respect to profession and education, and similar. There is still very limited creation of new jobs. The employment rates of men and women and the employment of young people are among the lowest in comparison with the EU-27 and are far from attainment of the Lisbon objectives. The high rate of economic inactivity indicates the lack of utilisation of the existing work force potential. The conducted research shows that the continued advised needs for workers is 25 time higher than the annual number of approved work permits to foreigners from 1992 to 2006, while that number was negligible in 1991. Due to this situation, Croatia still has a very strict protectionist orientation towards employing foreigners, although the fact is that this situation will have to change very quickly with accession to the EU. It can be concluded that no major changes in migration flows or any significant shifts in em¬ployment and unemployment rates can be expected until the year 2010. Although opening the borders could mean, on the one hand, the possibility of increased emigration of the Croatian work force, the expectations are that such movements, nonetheless, will not occur. It is more likely that opening borders would be connected with greater mobility of workers, both from Croatia into other countries and from other countries towards Croatia.

Potential of waste heat in Croatian industrial sector

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Bišćan Davor

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Waste heat recovery in Croatian industry is of the highest significance regarding the national efforts towards energy efficiency improvements and climate protection. By recuperation of heat which would otherwise be wasted, the quantity of fossil fuels used for production of useful energy could be lowered thereby reducing the fuel costs and increasing the competitiveness of examined Croatian industries. Another effect of increased energy efficiency of industrial processes and plants is reduction of greenhouse gases i.e. the second important national goal required by the European Union (EU and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC. Paper investigates and analyses the waste heat potential in Croatian industrial sector. Firstly, relevant industrial sectors with significant amount of waste heat are determined. Furthermore, significant companies in these sectors are selected with respect to main process characteristics, operation mode and estimated waste heat potential. Data collection of waste heat parameters (temperature, mass flow and composition is conducted. Current technologies used for waste heat utilization from different waste heat sources are pointed out. Considered facilities are compared with regard to amount of flue gas heat. Mechanisms for more efficient and more economic utilization of waste heat are proposed. [Acknoledgment. The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the UNITY THROUGH KNOWLEDGE FUND (UKF of the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia and the World Bank, under the Grant Agreement No. 89/11.

Gender differences in Croatian consumer decision-making styles

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Ivan-Damir Anić

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This paper tests the applicability of the CSI instrument to measuring consumer decision-making styles in the Croatian environment. The analysis assesses the validity and the reliability of CSI scales and examines gender differences in consumer-decision making styles. Research results point to the existence of eight consumer characteristics and thus validate the applicability of CSI instrument in the Croatian environment. Our findings further indicate that there were gender differences on five factors of consumer-decision making styles (perfectionist, novelty-fashion consciousness, recreational-hedonistic consumer, impulsiveness, habitual shopping behavioral. No significant differences in consumer decision styles between men and women were found with regard to three factors (brand consciousness, price consciousness and confused by overabundant choice. The CSI measurement system may help practitioners to gain a better understanding of how to position their products and services more effectively.

Football and Memories of Croatian Fascism on Facebook

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Tea Sindbæk

2016-01-01

On 19 November 2013, as Croatia’s national football team defeated Iceland and thus secured its participation in the World Championship, Croatian defender Josip Šimunić celebrated by leading a chant associated with the fascist Ustasha regime, known for its genocidal campaigns against Serbs, Jews...... and Roma in Croatia and Bosnia during the Second World War. As a result of his celebration, Šimunić was fined by Zagreb’s county court for inciting racist hatred and the International Football Association, FIFA, banned Šimunić from participating in 10 international matches including the World Championship...... of memory negotiation that took place on the Facebook page supporting Šimunić and on the petition webpage. Indeed, the Facebook page and its users vehemently contested both the official Croatian interpretation and that of the international football organization, trying instead to construct from below...

Interrelation of Lean and Green Management in Croatian Manufacturing Companies

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Miro Hegedić

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The goal of this article is to explore the link between lean and green management, reasons for their implementation, their effect throughout the whole life cycle, as well as the current state of use of lean tools, economic and environmental indicators in the context of Croatian manufacturing companies. A semi-structured interview was used in this research. As a result, the frequency of economic and environmental performance indicators and lean tools in Croatian companies has been defined, as well as the reasons for the implementation of lean management. Additionally, the understanding of the use of Life Cycle Assessment methods, environmental standards has been obtained and the integration of lean and green management in Croatian companies has been explored. Further on, results were compared to the similar study done in the UK. Finally, it can be concluded that the integration of lean and green management is not yet sufficiently present in manufacturing companies, although there are cases in which these two approaches are integrated, primarily in the process and food industry. It is for these reasons that in the integration of these two approaches lies great potential.

Accounting System in Croatian Public Healthcare Organizations: an Empirical Analysis

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Davor VAŠIČEK

2010-06-01

Full Text Available In considering the adequacy of adopting accruals and IPSASs, this paper tests the appropriateness of existing modified accrual accounting and financial reporting system in Croatian public healthcare sector. The paper indicates that accounting information system contains discrepancies and constraints in assuring true and fair view of organization’s financial position and performance. Our statistics confirms low level of cost and managerial accounting methods development, and external and internal financial reporting convergence.Having in mind its specificities, we argue that Croatian public healthcare sector represents a segmental accounting subsystem within the integral public sector accounting framework, where accruals implementation might prove justifiable.

Assessment of Cardiovascular Disease Risk in South Asian Populations

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S. Monira Hussain

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Although South Asian populations have high cardiovascular disease (CVD burden in the world, their patterns of individual CVD risk factors have not been fully studied. None of the available algorithms/scores to assess CVD risk have originated from these populations. To explore the relevance of CVD risk scores for these populations, literature search and qualitative synthesis of available evidence were performed. South Asians usually have higher levels of both “classical” and nontraditional CVD risk factors and experience these at a younger age. There are marked variations in risk profiles between South Asian populations. More than 100 risk algorithms are currently available, with varying risk factors. However, no available algorithm has included all important risk factors that underlie CVD in these populations. The future challenge is either to appropriately calibrate current risk algorithms or ideally to develop new risk algorithms that include variables that provide an accurate estimate of CVD risk.

Energy Prices and Internal Costs in Croatian Energy System Restructuring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potocnik, V. , Magdic, M.

1995-01-01

After social and political changes in 1990, energy prices in Croatia have been getting closer to the West European averages, faster than in the most European countries in transition. The energy prices for industry are almost at the West European level, while the energy prices of electricity and natural gas for households and those of the gasoline are well behind. If the population purchasing power parity (PPP) is taken into account, these relations change. While the internalization of external energy costs is under way in the developed world, it has not practically started yet in Croatia. The Croatian energy system restructuring shall require gradual adjustment of energy prices, together with multistage internalization of external energy costs. (author). 6 refs., 3 tabs., 2 figs

BAŠĆANSKA PLOČA IN THE LITERARY AND THE VISUAL-ART OF INTERTEXTUALITY OF THE CROATIAN POSTMODERN PERIOD

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Dina Marković

2006-01-01

Full Text Available In the article the author is comparatively considering, proving and pointing out factors of intertextuality in intermediality of the Croatian postmodern period, that is, the intertextual transfer of ‘Bašćanska ploča’ in the postmodern literary text Earth & I by J.Pupačić and also in the visual-art text – monotype Hommage a Bašćanska ploča, by Lj.Njerš. The author reveals that both authors have, at the symbolic times, Pupačić in 1967, and Lj.Njerš in 1991, purposefully crossed 900 year old leap between borders of worlds, so that they could intertextually return to tradition of old Croatian historical reality – against the ahistorical tradition of postmodern. The breakthrough source of Croatian heritage, the old Croatian language on the royal Zvonimir’s Bašćanska ploča, is a precious part of the universal European and world civilization, priceless political, linguistic and cultural transfer and connection of intertextuality for therapy of Croatian reality: 1. which reveals itself in Pupačić’s text connected to Declaration of name and status of Croatian language and 2. with Njerš’s monotype as an appeal for saving threatened Croatian cultural heritage in the first postmodern war in Croatia.

Psychometric analysis of export market orientation measurement scale in Croatian SME exporters’ context

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Dario Miočević

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Market orientation is a vital construct of the marketing concept. Although different conceptualization approaches to market orientation have been discussed by literature so far, a common denominator is its interdependence with business performance. Increasing globalization trends affect both the markets’ convergence and competition. Consequently, focusing on market orientation within an international context is of utmost importance. Export market orientation (EMO is relatively new concept, which puts market orientation into the international context. Since export is a dominant international entry strategy in the Croatian economy which comprises mostly SMEs, it is crucial to investigate the importance of the EMO in the Croatian SME context. Determining an appropriate measurement scale of the EMO to be applied in various national research contexts leading to generalization represents a challenge for marketing academicians. The paper aims to find out whether the EMO construct and measurement scale can be applied within the Croatian SME context. The authors have used the exploratory and the confirmatory factor analysis to determine the psychometric properties of the EMO scale. The results of psychometric assessment of the EMO scale confirm its dimensionability, reliability, validity and applicability in the Croatian SME context. Results clearly indicate the necessity of pursuing EMO activities in order to achieve a high level of export performance.

Forecasting Croatian inbound tourism demand

OpenAIRE

Tica, Josip; Kožić, Ivan

2015-01-01

The aim of this paper is to present a forecasting model for the overnight stays of foreign tourists in Croatia. Tourism is one of the most important parts of the Croatian economy. It is particularly important in the context of the services sector. Regular and significant surpluses and the consumption of foreign guests are an important element of budget revenues, especially VAT. The ability to forecast the development of inbound tourism demand in a timely manner is crucial for both business...

ON THE LANGUAGE OF THE OLDEST CROATIAN ETIQUETTE BOOK

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Boris Kuzmić

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The author analyzes the language of the oldest Croatian etiquette text called Regule roditelov i drugeh starešeh and Regule dvorjanstva, a text translated and adapted from, probably, several templates of the contemporary European etiquette books, which was part of the book Duhovno zercalo published in 1742, and an integral part of the catechetical manual Škola Kristuševa, published in 1744. The oldest Croatian etiquette book was written by the most prolific Kajkavian writer of the 18th century, a Jesuit Juraj Mulih (1694–1754. Mulih studied in Trnava; from 1727 until his death he worked as a popular missionary in northern and central Croatia and among Croats in Hungary (usually based in Zagreb, then in Požega, Varaždin, Soprony, Pecs and Petrovaradin. He visited several towns and parishes on the so-called penitential mission. He wrote more than thirty works of spiritual content (catechisms, prayer books, hymn books and manuals for various confraternities in three dialects – Kajkavian, Štokavian Ikavian and Čakavian (the Burgenland Croats. He was the author of the first Croatian etiquette book (Regule dvorjanstva and the first Kajkavian primer (Abecevica, 1746. His major works include: Business Apostolic (1742, School of Christ (1744, Heavenly Food (1748, Spiritual Easter Egg (1754. The analyzed text shows faithfulness to the Kajkavian Croatian language on all linguistic levels. In comparison to the earlier Kajkavian writers, such as Vramec, Pergošić or Habdelić, the author rarely reaches for phonological and morphological instruments more typical of Štokavian-Čakavian texts. The results of the literary linguistic analysis presented here will help those researchers who question the authorship of some of Mulih’s works. To remove any doubt, it is necessary to first examine the language, or at least the phonological and morphological characteristics, of the works signed by Mulih, for which it has been confirmed that they were

CROATIAN ADULT SPOKEN LANGUAGE CORPUS (HrAL

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Jelena Kuvač Kraljević

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Interest in spoken-language corpora has increased over the past two decades leading to the development of new corpora and the discovery of new facets of spoken language. These types of corpora represent the most comprehensive data source about the language of ordinary speakers. Such corpora are based on spontaneous, unscripted speech defined by a variety of styles, registers and dialects. The aim of this paper is to present the Croatian Adult Spoken Language Corpus (HrAL, its structure and its possible applications in different linguistic subfields. HrAL was built by sampling spontaneous conversations among 617 speakers from all Croatian counties, and it comprises more than 250,000 tokens and more than 100,000 types. Data were collected during three time slots: from 2010 to 2012, from 2014 to 2015 and during 2016. HrAL is today available within TalkBank, a large database of spoken-language corpora covering different languages (https://talkbank.org, in the Conversational Analyses corpora within the subsection titled Conversational Banks. Data were transcribed, coded and segmented using the transcription format Codes for Human Analysis of Transcripts (CHAT and the Computerised Language Analysis (CLAN suite of programmes within the TalkBank toolkit. Speech streams were segmented into communication units (C-units based on syntactic criteria. Most transcripts were linked to their source audios. The TalkBank is public free, i.e. all data stored in it can be shared by the wider community in accordance with the basic rules of the TalkBank. HrAL provides information about spoken grammar and lexicon, discourse skills, error production and productivity in general. It may be useful for sociolinguistic research and studies of synchronic language changes in Croatian.

Critical analysis of marketing in Croatian publishing

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Silvija Gašparić

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Marketing is an inevitable part of today's modern lifestyle. The role that marketing plays is so big that it has become the most important part of business. Due to crisis that is still affecting publishers in Croatia, this paper emphasizes the power of advertising as a key ingredient in how to overcome this situation and upgrade the system of publishing in Croatia. The framework of the paper is based on marketing as a tool that leads to popularization of books and sales increase. Beside the experimental part which gives an insight into public's opinion about books, publishing and marketing, the first chapter gives the literature review and analysis conducted on the whole process of book publishing in Croatia with pointing out mistakes that Croatian publishers make. Also, benefits of foreign publishing will be mentioned and used for comparison and projection on to the problems of the native market. The aim of this analysis and this viewpoint paper is to contribute the comprehension of marketing strategies and activities and its use and gains in Croatian publishing.

Implementation of the Third Energy Package and Renewable Energy Sources on Croatian Liberalised Market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toljan, I.

2016-01-01

The Croatian Third Energy Package was adopted in 2012 and its implementation in the previous period until today has accelerated changes in all areas of Croatian energy sector. The content of The EU's Third Energy Package was made in two directives and three regulations. Directives are implemented into national legislation of EU Member States (they choose the methods). Regulations are implemented directly in the entire EU. The main goal is to establish a unique electricity and gas market with market prices (or lower) and high safety and public service standards. Croatia began with incentives for generation from renewable energy sources in 2004 and by the end of this year, the first contract in that system (wind power plant Ravne on Pag island) will end. The question that presents itself is where and how will the owner sell electricity from now on. Current market suppliers as well as the new organisation in Croatian energy sector, Croatian Power Exchange, are both realistic options. Balancing market led by Croatian TSO is becoming bigger and participates in the business because of the higher amount of installed power connected to the power grid (mostly wind power plants). Can Croatian Transmission Operator still guarantee safe operational planning as before (the last blackout happened 10 years ago)? The existing electricity and gas market design doesn't satisfy its participants any more so an adjustment to new facts of a free market is necessary (power exchange, no more stimulations for renewable sources). What changes should be made in legislation so that the free market can develop and be harmonised with the European market? Decarbonization and digitalisation are a base of European energy policy but they are still waiting for a wider and stronger application in Croatia, is the current legislation enough? With these analysis the paper contributes to the learnings about the implementation of The Third Energy Package in Croatia and a unique energy policy in the EU.(author).

Demographic Ageing on Croatian Islands

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Ivo Nejašmić

2013-08-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the changes in the population structure of the Croatian islands by age, warns of the degree of ageing, provides spatial differentiation of this process and presents perspective of ageing at the level of settlement. Typing of population ageing is based on scores and has seven types. The total island population in 2011 belongs to the type 5 – very old population. Almost a half of the settlements (out of 303 have been affected by the highest levels of ageing (types 6 and 7. It was found that a quarter of island settlements will become “dead villages” in a foreseeable future; most of them are on small islands but also in the interior of larger islands. These are villages decaying in every respect, in which the way of life, as we know it, veins and goes out. The present ageing villagers are their last residents in most cases. Eve¬rything suggests that demographic recovery of the islands is not possible with the forces in situ. It is important to strike a balance between the needs and opportunities in order to successfully organize life on the islands, both small and large ones, and the fact is that there is a continuing disparity, which is especially profound in small islands. A sensitive and selective approach is needed to overcome the unfavourable demographic trends. Therefore it is necessary to respect the particularities of indi¬vidual islands and island groups in devising development strategy. Solutions to the problems must come of the local and wider community in synergy with relevant professional and scientific institutions. However, if the solutions are not found or measures do not give results, if the islands are left to desorganisation and senilisation, a part of the islands will become a wasteland. With regard to the value of this area whose wealth are people in the first place, this would be an intolerable civilization decline.

Y-chromosome lineages in native South American population.

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco-Verea, A; Jaime, J C; Brión, M; Carracedo, A

2010-04-01

The present work tries to investigate the population structure and variation of the Amerindian indigenous populations living in Argentina. A total of 134 individuals from three ethnic groups (Kolla, Mapuche and Diaguitas) living in four different regions were collected and analysed for 26 Y-SNPs and 11 Y-STRs. Intra-population variability was analysed, looking for population substructure and neighbour populations were considered for genetic comparative analysis, in order to estimate the contribution of the Amerindian and the European pool, to the current population. We observe a high frequency of R1b1 and Q1a3a* Y-chromosome haplogroups, in the ethnic groups Mapuche, Diaguita and Kolla, characteristic of European and Native American populations, respectively. When we compare our native Argentinean population with other from the South America we also observe that frequency values for Amerindian lineages are relatively lower in our population. These results show a clear Amerindian genetic component but we observe a predominant European influence too, suggesting that typically European male lineages have given rise to the displacement of genuinely Amerindian male lineages in our South American population. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implementation and management of e-marketing in the Croatian publishing industry

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Gordana Dukić

2010-07-01

Croatian publishers have a web site. Respondents stated that their sites were mostly registered with the search engines and that they were regularly updated. There are also a significant number of companies offering on-line purchase of products. Although the proportion of companies using at least some form of e-marketing is rather large, simpler methods of advertising and establishing contact with customers are in the majority.On average, interviewed marketing staff evaluated their knowledge of e-marketing as good. Based on the obtained results, the authors have concluded that, with the exception of individual cases, Croatian publishers have not yet fully recognised the importance and possibilities of e-marketing. Arguing that there are numerous obstacles to its full implementation in the publishing business, respondents do not agree that thorough changes are needed in the way they conduct marketing activities, although they are increasingly using e-marketing in their operations. It is likely that this attitude is largely the result of their belief that Croatian population is insufficiently skilled in using information and communication technology and an opinion that e-marketing is not more efficient than traditional marketing. The authors have concluded that, in terms of characteristics used for their categorisation, marketing staff have a rather uniform attitude towards e-marketing.Research study whose results have been presented in this paper contributes to a better understanding of various aspects of the use of e-marketing in the publishing trade. As such, it can be used to improve e-marketing management, thereby improving overall performance, which represents its most important merit.

Republic of South Africa: unraveling the population puzzle. Country profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Spain, D

1984-06-01

This discussion of the Republic of South Africa focuses on population growth, regions and cities, ethnicity and religion of the population, age distribution, housing and households, education, employment, income, and marketing and communication. South Africans, condemmed by the world community for their policy of racial discriminatioon, contend that outsiders fail to understand the system they legalized in 1948. Apartheid calls for developing different political institutions for blacks and whites in preparation for their eventual separation. According to this reasoning, black Africans are not considered permanent residents of South Africa, but rather of the "homelands" to which each tribal group has been assigned by the government. 4 homelands have been made independent, and if the remaining 6 become independent as scheduled, South Africa theoretically will no longer have any black citizens. Under this plan, nearly 90% of the current area of South Africa would go to whites, while the remaining 10% would be divided among the 10 homelands. The UN has condemmed the homelands policy, and no country has recognized their independence. By law South Africa has 4 distinct populations: Africans, whites, coloureds, and asians. Rhe combination of Afrikaners and British makes up the white population. Whites are in the minority and numbered only 4.7 million in 1983, or 15% of the total population. Since whites rule the country, their importance is far disproportionate to their numbers. There were 2.7 million coloureds in 1983, approximately 9% of all South Africans. Black africans, the single largest population group, numbered 22.7 million in 1983, or 73% of the total population. Blacks are divided in 10 subgroups corresponding to the 10 ethnicallyy based homelands. The largest groups are the Zulu (5.9 million in 1981) and the Xhosa (3.1 million). Population growth varies by race. The annual growth rate for the entire country was 2.4% in 1983, but for blacks it was 2.7% and for

INTERPRETATION OF THE STRATEGY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CROATIAN FRESH–WATER FISHERIES

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Roman Safner

2002-06-01

Full Text Available The shock of the transition to the market economy in Croatian agriculture (including aquaculture influenced the fall of the production and employment, debt, slow technologic development, worse economic parameters. High inputs, rigid tax system, lack of investments, non–rational trade and distribution system, as well as insufficient budget support also influenced this. The international competition additionally raised by Croatian entering into WTO. So, it was important to redefine strategic priorities in order to preserve and develop sustainable Croatian freshwater fisheries, whose production could satisfy domestic needs and actual export demand, respecting the law of the market and ecology at the same time. The aquaculture should be completely adjusted to the market demands and areas with satisfactory production characteristics, stimulated. Open waters management should be based on scientific research and permanent monitoring. Fishery management of bordering rivers should be coordinated according to international contracts. The development of family farms, alternative aquaculture and fish processing should be systematically stimulated. In order to be carried out, it is prerogative that this strategy be accompanied by employment of highly skilled freshwater experts.

Analysis of Croatian archives' web page from the perspective of public programmes

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Goran Pavelin

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In order to remain relevant in society, archivists should promote collections and records that are kept in the archives. Through public programmes, archives interact with customers and various public actors and create the institutional image. This paper is concerned with the role of public programmes in the process of modernization of the archival practice, with the emphasis on the Croatian state archives. The aim of the paper is to identify what kind of information is offered to users and public in general on the web sites of the Croatian state archives. Public programmes involve two important components of archival practice: archives and users. Therefore, public programmes ensure good relations with the public. Croatian archivists still question the need for public relations in archives, while American and European archives have already integrated public relations into the basic archival functions. The key components needed for successful planning and implementation of public programs are the source of financing, compliance with the annual work plan, clear goals, defined target audience, cooperation and support from the local community, and the evaluation of results.

Liberalization of power generation sector in the Croatian electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Viskovic, Alfredo

2005-01-01

The electricity market liberalization and the restructuring of power utilities eventually leads to the establishment of a single electricity market in Europe, which is especially important for efficiency gains in electricity generation coupled with increased security of supply, economic competitiveness and fulfillment of environmental requirements. The European electricity market Directives as well as the Energy Community Treaty for South East Europe (legislative Menu) have remarkable impact on the restructuring of the Croatian power sector and the development of electricity generation. The Croatian model of restructuring includes legal un bundling (in the ownership of one holding company - Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP)). The operation of HEP Group and its subsidiaries in the conditions of partially opened electricity market in an important element that shapes the interactions of competitive activities and regulated activities in the environment influenced by exogenous factors a thirteen percent electricity are controlled by the Energy Market Operator (MO), the Transmission System Operator (TSO) and the Energy Regulatory Agency (CERA). The introduction of eligible procedures and newly created operative procedures for power system operation, are creating completely new conditions for competition in the power generation sector, where almost all power plants are owned by HEP. New generating capacities in Croatia can be built through tendering and licensing procedures carried out by the Regulator. Electricity prices are still regulated by the Government (below the cost reflective level), there is a small share of industrial consumers and the annual electricity production is 12 TWh, with relatively large share of hydro plants. All these have implications on the development of the power generation sector in Croatia as well as on electricity market operation. The subject matter of this paper is an impact of power system restructuring and electricity market opening on the

Distribution control centers in the Croatian power system with particular consideration on ZAgreb distribution control center

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cupin, N.

2000-01-01

Discussion about control of Croatian Power system in the view of forthcoming free electricity market did not included do far distribution level. With this article we would like to clarify the role of distribution control centers pointing out importance of Zagreb Distribution control center, with controls one third of Croatian (HEP) consumption. (author)

From local to global--an overview of the Croatian National Theatre in the era of globalization.

Science.gov (United States)

Penjak, Ana

2012-09-01

The article offers an overview of the Croatian National Theatre research. It comes in two parts. The first examines the position theatre in the era of globalization, while the second focuses on the Croatian National Theatre, in the era of globalization, in the context of specific social and national interests, as well as within the limits of the national possibilities. What emerges in this overview is a feel for how complex the field of theatre research is in Croatia, given its specific position since there are four National Theatres in a country of approximately 4 million people. Also, local budgets and the lack of strategical plan and programme for culture in general represent a sort of limitation. The article ends with two conclusions: a) the Croatian National Theatres in the effort to go global experience primarily different economic status; b) the article draws attention to the present and future challenges that the Croatian National Theatres are faced with, posed by issues such as correlation between globalization and theatre.

Intergenerational transmission of historical memories and social-distance attitudes in post-war second-generation Croatians.

Science.gov (United States)

Svob, Connie; Brown, Norman R; Takšić, Vladimir; Katulić, Katarina; Žauhar, Valnea

2016-08-01

Intergenerational transmission of memory is a process by which biographical knowledge contributes to the construction of collective memory (representation of a shared past). We investigated the intergenerational transmission of war-related memories and social-distance attitudes in second-generation post-war Croatians. We compared 2 groups of young adults from (1) Eastern Croatia (extensively affected by the war) and (2) Western Croatia (affected relatively less by the war). Participants were asked to (a) recall the 10 most important events that occurred in one of their parents' lives, (b) estimate the calendar years of each, and (c) provide scale ratings on them. Additionally, (d) all participants completed a modified Bogardus Social Distance scale, as well as an (e) War Events Checklist for their parents' lives. There were several findings. First, approximately two-thirds of Eastern Croatians and one-half of Western Croatians reported war-related events from their parents' lives. Second, war-related memories impacted the second-generation's identity to a greater extent than did non-war-related memories; this effect was significantly greater in Eastern Croatians than in Western Croatians. Third, war-related events displayed markedly different mnemonic characteristics than non-war-related events. Fourth, the temporal distribution of events surrounding the war produced an upheaval bump, suggesting major transitions (e.g., war) contribute to the way collective memory is formed. And, finally, outright social ostracism and aggression toward out-groups were rarely expressed, independent of region. Nonetheless, social-distance scores were notably higher in Eastern Croatia than in Western Croatia.

The Great Bravery of Croatian Soldier by Giuseppe Maria Mitelli

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Daniel Premerl

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The article approaches the iconography of two etchings with Croatian subject matter made by the Bolognese etcher Giuseppe Maria Mitelli in 1684. In the focus is the etching Great Bravery of Croatian soldier (Gran prodezza di soldato croatto. The author concludes, interpreting the explanatory text below the etching, that it depicts an event of the so-called Great Turkish War (1683-1699. The depicted hero belonged to the Croatian Regiment commanded by general James Leslie, and the depicted heroic act occurred, in all probability, during the battle of Virovitica in 1684. Also, the author points out to a model for Mitelli's etching as well as to the literary image of the simultaneous decapitation of both a horseman and a horse in the Croatian literature. In the same year, Mitelli also made the portrait of the Zagreb bishop and the politician Martin Borković. The existence of both etchings is associated with the Illyrian-Hungarian College in Bologna, governed by the Zagreb cathedral Chapter. L'articolo indaga l'iconografia di due incisioni con soggetto croato realizzate dall'incisore bolognese Giuseppe Maria Mitelli nel 1684. Il focus del saggio è l'incisione Gran prodezza di soldato croatto. Interpretando il testo esplicativo sotto l'acquaforte, l'autore ritiene che essa raffiguri un evento della cosiddetta Grande Guerra Turca (1683-1699. L'eroe raffigurato apparteneva al reggimento croato comandato dal generale James Leslie e l'atto eroico raffigurato avvenne, con ogni probabilità, durante la battaglia di Virovitica nel 1684. L'autore individua inoltre un modello per l'incisione di Mitelli e un riferimento a una fonte nella letteratura croata ove compare la decapitazione simultanea di un cavaliere e di un cavallo. Nello stesso anno Mitelli fece anche il ritratto del vescovo di Zagabria e del politico Martin Borković. L'esistenza di entrambe le acqueforti è associata al Collegio illirico-ungarico di Bologna, governato dal Capitolo della

Aspects of Integration and Adaptation of Croatian Immigrants in Chile

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Marina Perić

2004-09-01

Full Text Available The emigration of Croats to Chile was a part of transoceanic migration that occurred at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century. Croatia at the time was within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. The most important area of emigration was Dalmatia, especially the island of Brač. Emigration went on without organisation, with no emigration policy or legislative framework. The main routes of emigration to Chile were to its northern parts (Antofagasta and Tarapaca and southern parts (the province Magallanes. In the new social milieu, in the immigration country – i.e. Chile, Croatian immigrants passed through various processes of integration and adaptation. The openness of Chilean society and politics to cultural pluralism gave them the opportunity to freely express themselves and their ethnicity. On the other hand, Chilean laws did not permit dual citizenship, and thus the children of the immigrants automatically became Chileans. Croatian immigrants at first nurtured a mechanical type of solidarity, since their migration was a chain development and they lived in groups of relatives and friends. After they assured for themselves the material necessities of life, they began to establish societies and were recognized from the outside as an immigrant group, distinct from other such groups. With time social stratification developed among them. They lived in communion with many other immigrant groups. They were attracted to all Slavic immigrant groups and they also have good relations with Chileans. Mixed marriages, mostly with Chileans, quickened the process of assimilation and brought about the almost total disappearance of the Croatian language. This paper is based on research, until the present, made by Croatian and Chilean authors into the historical sources and newspaper articles analysing the process of integration of immigrants on three social levels: within Chilean society, within their own immigrant groups and in regard to

Problems in the strategy implementation process in croatian companies

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Tomislav Radoš

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This paper provides an analysis of the problems in the strategy implementation process in Croatian companies based on the research conducted in Croatian companies in the years 2004, 2005 and 2006. Research results show that problems in the strategy implementation process occur with equal intensity, regardless of the company’s characteristics (size, age and life cycle of the industry. The key problems in the implementation process are: poor communication (information exchange between employees and organizational units responsible for the strategy implementation process, non-adjustment of organizational structure to suit the defined strategy, lack of clear definition of key tasks and activities of all participants in the implementation process, inadequate information system of control over the process of strategy implementation, lack of clearly defined operational plans and directions for strategy implementation, and lack of clearly defined responsibilities and authorities of key employees.

Dietary patterns and nutrient intakes of a South African population ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Dietary patterns and nutrient intakes of a South African population and asymptomatic people infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus: The transition health and urbanisation in South Africa (Thusa) study.

LITERARY LANGUAGE AS A SIGN. SEMIOTIC CONSIDERATIONS ON THE CROATIAN LANGUAGE IN THE CULTURAL SYSTEM

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Maciej Czerwiński

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In the article the question of the existence of the Croatian literary language in the semiotic space, i.e. the system of culture, is taken into consideration. In order to affirm the idea of the justification of the very term Croatian language, and thus acceptance of the thesis of the existence of such a language, this argumentation is directed towards theoretical investigation in the semiotic field. There is an attempt to envisage that discussions in the post-Yugoslav linguistics are not the problem, conventionally speaking, ‘ontological’ but ‘epistemological’. Thus, it is not important the question whether the Croatian language or any other language, e.g. Montenegrin, exists but rather the following question: what does it mean that literary language exists or does not exist?

Asset allocation and regime switching on Croatian financial market

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Tihana Škrinjarić

2016-12-01

Full Text Available It has been known for quite some time now that financial markets exhibit changes in regimes over time. A majority of the literature tends to support that financial markets undergo regimes of bull and bear markets. This characteristic should be modeled in a proper way as investors are always interested in beating the market: either by achieving better returns than others, or by minimizing their portfolio risks. There exist many mathematical and statistical models that are used as tools to achieve the mentioned goals. Introducing the regime switching methodology in existing models has proven to be facilitate achieving such goals. Therefore, the objective of this study is to utilize the regime switching methodology on the Croatian financial market to ascertain its usefulness for Croatian investors. Multivariate regime switching and non-switching models were estimated using daily data from the period 2 January 2007 to 31 December 2015. The assumption is that the investor is interested in stock and bond markets. The results from the MGARCH and regime switching MGARCH models are then compared in order to give answers as to whether the respective methodology applied to the Croatian market is useful and how it may benefit investors. Most of the results support the presumption of incorporating this particular methodology in financial modeling for the Croatia markets. This is the first research that applies the regime switching MGARCH methodology in Croatia (including the Balkan region, hence we expect that this will be a significant contribution to existing methodologies in literature.

Marketing Concept in the Function of Croatian Seaport Business Operation Improvement

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Marinko Jurčević

2006-05-01

Full Text Available The application of the scope of marketing concept in modemmarket conditions of business operation is obligatory. Therole of marketing, as a business philosophy, is in the end unavoidablefor the improvement of business operation. It is impossibleto do business in market conditions and not to applybasic marketing rules. Therefore, the solution for the improvementof operation of Croatian seaports should be soughtthrough the systematic application of the scopes of marketingconcept. Marketing mix should be applied to the system of businessoperation of Croatian seaports, with a breakdown of allunderlying marketing functions based on the results of a systematicmarket research, and through monitoring not only ofthe current status but also of market trends and forecasts, listeningto customer demands and trends in this particularbranch of industry. In addition to the improvement of the qualityof transport services, through the analysis of the price policyand by strengthening the logistics of port operation, particularattention should be focused towards the systematic applicationof all promotion mix elements aiming at strengthening the identityand the image of Croatian ports. In the end, such businessand marketing-like thinking should result in economic developmentand business prosperity not only of ports but of maritimetransport as well; in other words, by the prosperity of theentire transport activity, as a prerequisite for the economic developmentof the Republic of Croatia.

Visual Presentation and Communication of Croatian Academic Websites

Science.gov (United States)

Selthofer, Josipa

2018-01-01

Introduction: The aim of the research is to analyse and compare visual identity elements of Croatian academic Websites with ones of European countries using Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions. The purpose of the research is to point to the influence a culture has on the design of Websites. Method: Graphical elements of university home pages…

Alcohol-Related Injuries among Eastern Croatian University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Miskulin, Ivan; Peek-Asa, Corinne; Miskulin, Maja

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to describe the alcohol consumption patterns and to identify the association of injury with excess drinking among Croatian students. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 845 university students by the use of the WHO AUDIT questionnaire. A total of 39.9% of the university students reported some level of excess…

Forecasting long-term energy demand of Croatian transport sector

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pukšec, Tomislav; Krajačić, Goran; Lulić, Zoran

2013-01-01

predictions for the Croatian transport sector are presented. Special emphasis is given to different influencing mechanisms, both legal and financial. The energy demand predictions presented in this paper are based on an end-use simulation model developed and tested with Croatia as a case study. The model...

Economic uncertainty and its impact on the Croatian economy

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Petar Soric

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to quantify institutional (political and fiscal and non-institutional uncertainty (economic policy uncertainty, Economists’ recession index, natural disasters-related uncertainty, and several disagreement measures. The stated indicators are based on articles from highly popular Croatian news portals, the repository of law amendments (Narodne novine, and Business and Consumer Surveys. We also introduce a composite uncertainty indicator, obtained by the principal components method. The analysis of a structural VAR model of the Croatian economy (both with fixed and time-varying parameters has showed that a vast part of the analysed indicators are significant predictors of economic activity. It is demonstrated that their impact on industrial production is the strongest in the onset of a crisis. On the other hand, the influence of fiscal uncertainty exhibits just the opposite tendencies. It strengthens with the intensification of economic activity, which partially exculpates the possible utilization of fiscal expansion as a counter-crisis tool.

Aspects of the structure of film expression and anthropological paradigm of films reception in Croatian cinema and TV distribution.

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Svilicić, Niksa

2012-09-01

This research paper deals with one part of a comprehensive study called "Causality of narratological-semiotic aspects of the structure of film expression and paradigms of reception of Croatian feature film". It is conceived as a response to the hypothesis that the expression of narrative-semiotic terms correlate with the reception of the Croatian feature film audience and all them leads into a broader holistic i.e. anthropological context.The basic idea of scientific research is to analyze the complete feature productions since Croatian independence 1991 to date, presented at the National Film Festival (film festival in Pula), identify, define and isolate positive social narrative-semiotic stereotypes, which can then serve as a paradigm of better ratings and increase of the currently very low rating of domestic films in Croatian cinemas, as well as TV distribution. In other words, the paper will be analyzed and processed by a range of different effects based on narrative-semiotic, set design and mise-en-scène motives, used in the Croatian feature films since independence to date, that we assume to positively influence the mood of the viewer, and thus increase the rating of the film.

Influence of UV and blue-light sun radiation to developing of age-related macular degeneration on Croatian Island Rab

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vojnikovic, Bozo; Coklo, Miran; Ranogajec-Komor, Maria

2008-01-01

Full text: Croatian island Rab has one of the highest solar radiation in geographical area of Europe. The aim of this clinical trial was to estimate correlation between incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the exposure to sunlight in different population on island Rab. In the first group agriculturists and fishermen were collected, in the second group members of the urban population were involved. 1753 individuals were investigated. The age in this population was between 40 and 73 years. The incidence of AMD in the first group was 19% while in the urban population only 2% showed AMD. It can be concluded that a very significant incidence exists between chronic exposure to sunlight and appearance of age-related macular degeneration. (author)

Croatian Energy Policy as Function of Regional Development and Employment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potocnik, V.

2006-01-01

The Republic of Croatia has modest proven fossil fuels (oil and gas) reserves and relatively abundant renewable energy potential (wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, hydro), distributed mainly in less developed regions of Croatia. The Croatian energy system is excessively dependent on expensive oil and natural gas (80% of primary energy), compared to the European Union (61%), and the world average (58%). Approximately 60% of total energy is imported, which considerably contributes to the country's very high foreign trade deficit and foreign debt. Putting into focus of the Croatian energy policy the improvement of energy efficiency and implementation of renewable energies would significantly increase opportunities for mitigating rather wide regional development disparities and high unemployment rates, at the same time reducing energy import, foreign trade deficit and foreign debt, and contributing to energy security as a part of the national security.(author)

Polymorphic Alu Insertion/Deletion in Different Caste and Tribal Populations from South India.

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Chinniah, Rathika; Vijayan, Murali; Thirunavukkarasu, Manikandan; Mani, Dhivakar; Raju, Kamaraj; Ravi, Padma Malini; Sivanadham, Ramgopal; C, Kandeepan; N, Mahalakshmi; Karuppiah, Balakrishnan

2016-01-01

Seven human-specific Alu markers were studied in 574 unrelated individuals from 10 endogamous groups and 2 hill tribes of Tamil Nadu and Kerala states. DNA was isolated, amplified by PCR-SSP, and subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis, and genotypes were assigned for various Alu loci. Average heterozygosity among caste populations was in the range of 0.292-0.468. Among tribes, the average heterozygosity was higher for Paliyan (0.3759) than for Kani (0.2915). Frequency differences were prominent in all loci studied except Alu CD4. For Alu CD4, the frequency was 0.0363 in Yadavas, a traditional pastoral and herd maintaining population, and 0.2439 in Narikuravars, a nomadic gypsy population. The overall genetic difference (Gst) of 12 populations (castes and tribes) studied was 3.6%, which corresponds to the Gst values of 3.6% recorded earlier for Western Asian populations. Thus, our study confirms the genetic similarities between West Asian populations and South Indian castes and tribes and supported the large scale coastal migrations from Africa into India through West Asia. However, the average genetic difference (Gst) of Kani and Paliyan tribes with other South Indian tribes studied earlier was 8.3%. The average Gst of combined South and North Indian Tribes (CSNIT) was 9.5%. Neighbor joining tree constructed showed close proximity of Kani and Paliyan tribal groups to the other two South Indian tribes, Toda and Irula of Nilgiri hills studied earlier. Further, the analysis revealed the affinities among populations and confirmed the presence of North and South India specific lineages. Our findings have documented the highly diverse (micro differentiated) nature of South Indian tribes, predominantly due to isolation, than the endogamous population groups of South India. Thus, our study firmly established the genetic relationship of South Indian castes and tribes and supported the proposed large scale ancestral migrations from Africa, particularly into South India

Dynamics of market orientation in Croatian economy

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Ivana First

2011-12-01

Full Text Available It was the goal of this research to examine the dynamics of Croatian transformation to market orientation and test whether the market orientation model changes with time as the business environment changes. Based on the literature analysis, we proposed a hypothetical model which relies on behavioural approach in understanding market orientation. To empirically test the hypothetical model, we used data previously collected for 2001, and by replicating the same questionnaire now collected data for 2011. Data was analyzed by hierarchical regression analysis on the two sets of data. Our findings reveal that Croatian organizations reached the level of moderate market orientation leaving space for improvement. Findings also reveal that higher level of market orientation correlates with higher business performance. Furthermore, with development of ICT, the model of market orientation modified in time in a way that in predicting successful market oriented reaction, specific information on consumer satisfaction gains importance, while general information from competitor and consumer databases lose importance. Despite the changes in the relationships among the elements of market orientation, the model itself similarly predicts performance today as it did ten years ago. Managers are advised to increase implementation of market orientation especially focusing on market responsiveness as such behaviour will lead to better performance.

Population specific genetic heterogeneity of familial hypercholesterolemia in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Smyth, Natalie; Ramsay, Michèle; Raal, Frederick J

2018-04-01

To describe the prevalence and population-specific genetic heterogeneity of familial hypercholesterolemia in South Africa. This review highlights the paucity of data on familial hypercholesterolemia in South Africa, and the urgent need to uncover the mutation profiles in lipid-associated genes, causing an increase in LDL-cholesterol in the different ethnic groups. Case reports and small studies have shown that familial hypercholesterolemia, although apparently uncommon, is present in black Africans. Local founder effects have led to an increased prevalence of familial hypercholesterolemia in several South African populations: Afrikaner founder mutations (c.681 C>G, c.1285 G>A, c.523 G>A), Ashkenazi founder mutation (c.654_656del) and possible Indian founder mutation (c.2054 C>T). Preliminary data in black Africans with elevated LDL-cholesterol identified a possible common mutation, c.137_142del. The South African multiethnic society and well described founder effects emphasize the need for differential approaches to diagnosis and management of familial hypercholesterolemia. Studies involving larger cohorts and inclusive of different ethnicities are paramount to establishing an accurate prevalence of familial hypercholesterolemia in black Africans, not only in South Africa but in the Sub-Saharan African region. It is clear that the estimated world prevalence of one in 250 cannot be generally applied across African populations.

Analysis of pharmacogenetic traits in two distinct South African populations

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Ikediobi Ogechi

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Our knowledge of pharmacogenetic variability in diverse populations is scarce, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. To bridge this gap in knowledge, we characterised population frequencies of clinically relevant pharmacogenetic traits in two distinct South African population groups. We genotyped 211 tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs in 12 genes that influence antiretroviral drug disposition, in 176 South African individuals belonging to two distinct population groups residing in the Western Cape: the Xhosa (n = 109 and Cape Mixed Ancestry (CMA (n = 67 groups. The minor allele frequencies (MAFs of eight tagSNPs in six genes (those encoding the ATP binding cassette sub-family B, member 1 [ABCB1], four members of the cytochrome P450 family [CYP2A7P1, CYP2C18, CYP3A4, CYP3A5] and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1 [UGT1A1] were significantly different between the Xhosa and CMA populations (Bonferroni p CYP2C18, CYP3A4, the gene encoding solute carrier family 22 member 6 [SLC22A6] and UGT1A1 between the two South African populations. Characterising the Xhosa and CMA population frequencies of variant alleles important for drug transport and metabolism can help to establish the clinical relevance of pharmacogenetic testing in these populations.

Energy Policy and Long Term Energy Demand in Croatian Households Sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Puksec, T.; Duic, N.

2011-01-01

Households sector in Croatia represents one of the largest consumers of energy today with around 75,75PJ, which is almost 29% of Croatia's final energy demand. Considering this consumption, implementing different mechanisms that would lead to improvements in energy efficiency in this sector seems relevant. In order to plan future energy systems it is important to know future possibilities and needs regarding energy demand for different sectors. Through this paper long term energy demand projections for Croatian households sector will be shown with a special emphasis on different mechanisms, both financial, legal but also technological that will influence future energy demand scenarios. It is important to see how these mechanisms influence, positive or negative, on future energy demand and which mechanism would be most influential. Energy demand predictions in this paper are based upon bottom-up approach model which combines and process large number of input data. The Model will be compared to Croatian national Energy Strategy and certain difference will be presented. One of the major conclusions shown in this paper is significant possibilities for energy efficiency improvements and lower energy demand in the future, based on careful and rational energy planning. Different financial, legal and technological mechanisms can lead to significant savings in the households sector which also leads to lesser greenhouse gas emissions and lower Croatian dependence on foreign fossil fuels. (author)

Zinc status in South Asian populations--an update.

Science.gov (United States)

Akhtar, Saeed

2013-06-01

This article attempts to highlight the prevalence of zinc deficiency and its health and economic consequences in South Asian developing countries and to shed light on possible approaches to combating zinc deficiency. A computer-based search was performed on PubMed, Google, and ScienceDirect.com to retrieve relevant scientific literature published between 2000 and 2012. The search yielded 194 articles, of which 71 were culled. Studies were further screened on the basis of population groups, age and sex, pregnancy, and lactation. The most relevant articles were included in the review. Cutoffs for serum zinc concentration defined for zinc deficiency were 65 microg/dL for males and females aged or = 10 years. Population segments from rural and urban areas of South Asian developing countries were included in the analysis. They comprised pregnant and lactating women, preschool and school children. The analysis reveals that zinc deficiency is high among children, pregnant and lactating women in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Diarrhoea has been established as a leading cause to intensify zinc deficiency in Bangladesh. Little has been done in Sri Lanka and Nepal to estimate the prevalence of zinc deficiency precisely. A substantial population segment of the South Asian developing countries is predisposed to zinc deficiency which is further provoked by increased requirements for zinc under certain physiological conditions. Supplementation, fortification, and dietary diversification are the most viable strategies to enhancing zinc status among various population groups.

Business Intelligence technology: The Croatian case

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Katarina Ćurko

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Each company aims to improve its business performance. Business Intelligence (BI helps enterprises to optimize their decision-making capabilities and to attain unprecedented levels of competitive advantage. Its usage leads to conditions, procedures and mechanisms for creating quality information and business knowledge. By these the organization can successfully respond to numerous pressures in dynamical and complex environment. The main objective of the paper is to present what the business intelligence is, and show the results of the research about the level and use of business intelligence in Croatian large organizations.

SLAVIC LITERATURES IN DALMATIAN PERIODICALS IN THE PERIOD OF CROATIAN MODERNISM

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Robert Bacalja

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The paper analyzes translations and mediatorial articles from the Slavic literature published in Dalmatian newspapers and periodicals which contribute most to mediation during the period of Croatian Modernism. While periodicals in Dalmatia traditionally mediates from the Roman literature, especially from the Italian, in the examined corpus can be seen the remarkable reception of Slavic literature, particularly Russian.. The paradigm of the most recognized culture and literature in non Slavic world is desirable identity basis of the Croatian literature as a part of a large Slavic stem from romanticism to modernism. Mediation of Slavic literatures is examined on the corpus of newspapers and periodicals published in Dubrovnik, Split and Zadar (Crvena Hrvatska, Srđ, Sloboda, Jedinstvo/Novo jedinstvo, Novi vijek, Narodni list, Smotra dalmatinska, Iskra, Glasnik Matice dalmatinske, Lovor, etc..

Staff/population ratios in South African public sector mental health ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

To document existing staff/population ratios per 100 000 population in South African public sector mental health services. Design. Cross-sectional survey. ... The staff/population ratios per 100 000 population for selected personnel categories (with the interprovincial ranges in brackets) were as follows: total nursing staff 15.6 ...

Marine conservation and accession: the future for the Croatian Adriatic.

Science.gov (United States)

Mackelworth, Peter; Holcer, Draško; Jovanović, Jelena; Fortuna, Caterina

2011-04-01

The European Union (EU) is the world's largest trading bloc and the most influential supra-national organisation in the region. The EU has been the goal for many eastern European States, for Croatia accession remains a priority and underpins many of its national policies. However, entry into the EU requires certain commitments and concessions. In October 2003 the Croatian parliament declared an ecological and fisheries protection zone in the Adriatic. Under pressure the zone was suspended, finally entering into force in March 2008 exempting EU States. There are other marine conflicts between Croatia and the EU, particularly the contested maritime border with Slovenia, and the development of the Croatian fishing fleet in opposition to the Common Fisheries Policy. Conversely, attempts to harmonise Croatian Nature Protection with the EU Habitats Directive, facilitated by pre-accession funding, has galvanised conservation policy. Since 2005 two marine protected areas have been declared, significantly increasing the marine ecosystem under protection. Finally, the development of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive is the latest EU attempt to integrate environmental policy in the maritime realm. This will have an effect not only on member States but neighbouring countries. For marine nature protection to be effective in the region the Adriatic Sea needs to be viewed as a mutually important shared and limited resource not a bargaining chip. Negotiations of the EU and Croatia have been watched closely by the other Balkan States and precedents set in this case have the potential to affect EU expansion to the East.

JOSIP KOZARAC IN CROATIAN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

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Berislav Majhut

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Josip Kozarac (1858–1906 is considered to be one of the most important Slavonian and Croatian writers of Realism. However, the beginnings of his literary work written for children are seldom mentioned and even less frequently studied. Indeed, a few remarks about that part of Kozarac’s literary work disagree on which stories belong to The Tales of Grandfather Niko (Priče djeda Nike. Such an attitude towards what constitutes the corpus of Kozarac’s work under this title is closely linked to the issue of the affiliation of these stories to children’s literature. This study attempts to provide answers to two intertwined questions: first, do Priče djeda Nike (The Tales of Grandfather Niko belong to children’s literature and second, what is the exact scope of the work known as Priče djeda Nike? Having established that Priče djeda Nike undoubtedly belong to children’s literature, we will try to find their place in the history of Croatian children’s literature. We will argue that this work represents a transitory form of narration between, on the one hand, moralistic stories (which we find in the very popular translations of the stories by German authors Christoph Schmid and Franz Hoffmann and their Croatian epigones and, on the other, entrepreneurship narratives by Davorin Trstenjak, U radu je spas (Labor Will Save Us from 1885 and Dragoslav Heiligstein, Zlatne ruke (Golden Hands from 1930, which paved the way for socially engaged realistic novels, such as Mato Lovrak’s Vlak u snijegu (A Train in the Snow published in 1933 and Družba Pere Kvržice (Pero Kvržica’s Gang published in 1933, and Josip Pavičić’s Poletarci, published in 1937. The study will show that the number of stories published in the first monographic edition of Priče djeda Nike is different from the number of stories published in Pučke novine. The study also analyzes which stories Kozarac himself considered as those belonging to Priče djeda Nike.

Potentials for energy savings and long term energy demand of Croatian households sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pukšec, Tomislav; Vad Mathiesen, Brian; Duić, Neven

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Long term energy demand of Croatian households sector has been modelled. ► Developed model can describe the whole households sector. ► Main modes include heating, cooling, electrical appliances, cooking and hot water. ► Different scenarios regarding future energy demand are presented and discussed. -- Abstract: Households represent one of the most interesting sectors, when analyzing Croatia’s energy balance. It makes up one of the largest energy consumers with around 75 PJ per year, which is almost 29% of Croatia’s final energy demand. Considering this consumption, implementing various mechanisms, which would lead to improvements in energy efficiency of this sector, seems relevant. In order to plan future energy systems, important would be to know future possibilities and needs regarding energy demand of different sectors. Through this paper, long term energy demand projections of Croatian households sector will be shown. Focus of the paper will be on various mechanisms influencing future energy demand scenarios. Important would be to quantify this influence, whether positive or negative, and see which mechanisms would be the most significant. Energy demand projections in this paper are based upon bottom-up approach model which combines and processes a large number of input data. The model will be compared to Croatian National Energy Strategy and certain differences and conclusions will be presented. One of the major conclusions shown in this paper is significant possibilities for energy efficiency improvements and lower energy demand in the future, based on careful and rational energy planning. Different financial, legal and technological mechanisms can lead to significant savings in the households sector which leads to lower GHG emissions and lower Croatian dependence on foreign fossil fuels.

Cost Accounting as a Possible Solution for Financial Sustainability of Croatian Public Hospitals

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Ivana Dražić Lutilsky

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to present the current usage of cost accounting methodology in Croatian public hospitals through conducted empirical research and to provide opinions of accountants and financial officers regarding possible implementation of cost accounting methodology in public hospitals. In the paper, the authors analyze the accounting system in Croatian public hospitals, identifying the flaws of the current accounting system with regard to the recording and allocation of costs. National healthcare systems of different European countries provide a theoretical background for the usage of accrual accounting basis and cost accounting methodologies, showing better governance and financial sustainability of public hospitals which have introduced cost accounting methodology. The conducted empirical research shows that accountants and financial officers believe that the healthcare system in Croatia is ready for a change in the current accounting system based on the modified accrual basis through the implementation of accrual accounting basis and full costing approach to cost allocation. Full costing approach is also known as activity-based accounting method for cost allocation. The authors also recommend some initial steps for implementation of the new cost accounting system in Croatian public hospitals.

Business excellence as a success factor for the performance of large Croatian enterprises

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Ivica Zdrilić

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Croatian companies need a new approach that will provide them with sufficient competitive strength, based on business excellence. Focusing only on financial indicators and measures is insufficient. Therefore new concepts should be introduced, especially by large companies that are traditionally inert and exposed to global competition, and situated in the countries with ongoing transition, such as Croatia. Today 75% of the source of value within a company cannot be measured by means of the standard accounting techniques anymore, and in the 21st century it is impossible to rely exclusively on measuring financial parameters. According to the authors, in addition to financial measuring, a way should be found to measure non-financial parameters within a company. The paper is therefore aimed at exploring the influence of business excellence and its values on business in the Croatian business practice. The authors carried out a research on 106 large Croatian enterprises with more than 250 employees, exploring the connection between the values of business excellence and company performance, Results show a positive correlation between applying the principles of business excellence and successful company performance in practice.

Testing for convergence in electricity consumption across Croatian regions at the consumer's sectoral level

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borozan, Djula

2017-01-01

Using the panel unit tests with and without structural break(s), the convergence hypothesis in relative per capita electricity consumption series is tested across Croatian regions during the period 2001–2013. The results are mixed, depending primarily on the consumption sector considered and the test applied. They indicate the necessity to conduct analysis and formulate energy policy measures on the sector-disaggregated and regional-specific electricity consumption time series. The Croatian electricity markets are not fully integrated, and some regions are faced with statistically significant structural break(s), demonstrating thereby the Croatian gradual energy reform process with several sudden innovations, significant regional differences, and the market dependence on expectations, domestic and international economic and non-economic innovations. The impacts of innovations are likely to be permanent for most of the regions, and their electricity consumption behaviours are likely to be path dependent. Consequently, innovations into the energy markets, including government interventions, may have long-run effects, indicating that space and time for experimenting with alternative mechanisms are quite limited.

In Search of Work – the Life of Croatian Immigrant Men in Canada between the Two World Wars

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Snježana Ružić

2002-12-01

Full Text Available In this article the author attempts to describe the life of Croatian immigrants in Canada duringthe interwar period. She looks at how emigration to Canada effected family life, especially for men who went abroad in search of work and higher earnings. To begin the article, the author surveys the existing historiography, in particular the new trends in social history that examine the everyday life of “average” men and women which have opened new approaches in immigration history, paying less attention to the political and diplomatic events surrounding migration studies. Her methodological approach follows concepts developed by the “new” social history and is based on a theoretical concept of masculinity. The major primary source for her research is Canadian/Croatian Voice which was printed in Canada in Croatian, but she also leans heavily on important historiographical literature concerning Croatian immigrants in Canada. In her article the author provides a short survey of the emigration of Croatians to Canada which grows after an agreement was signed in 1925 between the Canadian government and the two large railway companies, Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway. The major portion of the work examines the life of Croatian men in isolated labour camps, the hard working conditions, the constant search for work, and the psychological effects of long years of separation from family. Men leave for Canada with the intent of staying for only a certain period of time in order to bring money back home. But in the event of the economic crisis created by the Great Depression, low wages, and periods of unemployment, the length of the stay in Canada grows, creating frustration among the immigrant men as well as their families back home. In conclusion, the author shows how improving economic conditions in Canada in the mid 1930s coupled with worsening conditions in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia led most men to find steady employment in

INDICATORS OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CROATIAN HEALTH INSURANCE FUND FROM 2000 TO 2014

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Danijela Nujić

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The goal of this research is to establish a connection and a mutual influence between the expenditure of funds of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund in Croatia from 2000 to 2014, expenditure per levels of healthcare, and the trend of services provided. This method uses the determination coefficient. Despite the increased spending of the CHIF in Croatia by as much as 80.6% (from 13.4 billion in 2001 to 24.2 billion in 2014, the primary healthcare shares, as well as hospital and polyclinic healthcare shares, have been reduced in the same time period. Contrary to that, expenses for medicaments are rising, as well as the expenses for the ‘other expenses’ group. Primary healthcare (PH, Croatian: Primarna zdravstvena zaštita has significantly reduced price per service. Hospital healthcare (HH, Croatian: Bolnička zdravstvena zaštita has the same number of hospitalizations, but their length has been significantly reduced. In processing the public publication data of the CHIF, the structure of data portrayed has been changing every few years so some data is impossible to track continuously. It is also impossible to understand the reason for such an attitude. PH, HH, and polyclinic advisory healthcare (PAH, Croatian: Poliklinička konzilijarna zdravstvena zaštita are levels with the strongest and most decisive influence on the quality of the healthcare system on the one hand, and they are showing a strong negative trend in expenses with regard to medicaments and other expenses on the other hand.

ANALYSIS OF TIME SERIES FOR THE CURRENCY PAIR CROATIAN KUNA / EURO

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Marko Martinović

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The domestic currency Croatian kuna (HRK was introduced in May 1995. To date, the Croatian National Bank (HNB, as a regulator and formulator of monetary policy in Croatia has operated a policy of stable exchange rate, typically referenced to the formal currency of the European Union euro (EUR. From the date of introduction of the euro 01/01/1999 until 01/01/2016 the value of the currency pair HRK / EUR changed in value by only 4.25% (HNB. Although the value of the Croatian kuna is relatively stable, there are some fluctuations on an annual level (e.g. in ­­­the last few years because of the global crisis as well as  on periodic levels within a year. The aim of this paper is to show the movement of the value of the currency pair since the beginning of 2002 to the present day (the time curve, analyze the correctness, trends and periodicity (seasonal behavior, if any exist.The research will be done using the method of Time Series Analysis, assuming that the external (global economy and internal factors (economic policy remain similar or the same. According to the results, further assessment of price developments in the period followed will be made by using the obtained predicative models. In the event that the curve contains the component of periodicity, the observed patterns will be studied further.

Internal market – situation and forecasting for Croatian groups of companies

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Zoran Krupka

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the attitude of managers to the market position of independent companies in comparison to the companies that are members of groups of companies in Croatia. In addition, research included an analysis of their attitudes toward current and future internal market trends with respect to the number and the value of transactions conducted within Croatian groups of companies. Methodology: Relevant secondary and primary dana was used in the research. In secondary research, relevant scientific and professional literature was analyzed. Primary research was done by using a questionnaire on an intentional sample of experts, including 127 managers working for groups of companies in Croatia. Findings: Two main hypotheses were tested: H1 – The internal market of Croatian groups of companies, measured by the number of transactions, will grow in the future; H2 – The internal market of Croatian groups of companies, measured by transaction value, will grow in the future. Both hypotheses were accepted. Implications: Research results imply a further strengthening of the financial and economic importance of groups of companies in Croatia, and a weakening of the companies that are not members of such groups. This implies a tendency toward certain monopoly development in some economic sectors. The development and continuous growth of the internal market compels countries to implement control and regulatory practices with regard to the use of transfer pricing, a path Croatia will have to follow.

A Common Opinion on Croatian Journalists Tested by PR Profesionals

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Ana Sušić

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Journalists in Croatia do not enjoy formidable reputation among the public due to the beliefs that their writing is, inter alia, biased, inclined to sensationalism and manipulation, and that they lack analytical skills (see also Kanižaj and Skoko, 2010; Jokoš and Kanižaj, 2012. The aim of this research is to verify how journalistic work and journalistic profession in Croatia is perceived by corporate sector PR professionals who cooperate with them on a daily basis. Using the method of in-depth interviews conducted with eight PR professionals, the reputation of Croatian journalists has been put to the test. The research revealed that the interviewed PR professionals perceive Croatian journalists mostly as superficial and biased reporters who search for sensation rather than the truth. However, it turned out that the interviewees do not percieve journalists as being envious, irresponsible or corruptible. They even demonstrated true understanding of the difficulties that journalists encounter, especially in the context of the economic crisis.

Identity, football and Croatian national team members from the diaspora

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Komar Tibor

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the author briefly presents his fieldwork results, with an emphasis on studying the relationship between football and the construction of children’s, grandson’s and great-grandson’s national identities in first-generation Croatian migrants. Specifically, the research focuses on Croatian national football team members from the diaspora who rather choose to play for their “imagined homeland” than the national team of their country of birth. If we agree that one of sport’s functions is, among other things, to act as a mechanism of national solidarity - promoting the sense of identity and unity - football proves to be an ideal field for studying the symbolic dimensions of ethnicity, discursive shaping of identity and practices trough which athletic (and national loyalty is manifested. Through the coding of interview transcripts, organizing data into categories and analyzing conducted interviews, the author examines the dynamic relationship between expressing national identity and personal choices of the individual as to which national team he should join.

Croatian energy regulatory council - independent Croatian regulatory body

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klepo, M.

2002-01-01

By means of approving five energy laws, the Republic of Croatia established an appropriate legislative framework for energy sector regulation. A series of sub-law acts is presently being elaborated as well as some additional documents in order to bring about transparent and non-discriminatory provisions for the establishment of electric energy, gas, oil/oil derivatives and thermal energy markets, i.e. for the introduction and management of market activities and public services. A considerable share of these activities relates to the definition of transparent regulatory mechanisms that would guarantee the implementation of regulation rules based on the law, and be carried out by the independent regulatory body - Croatian Energy Regulatory Council. The Council's rights and obligations include firm executive functions, which present obligations to every energy entity. A dissatisfied party may set in motion a settlement of dispute, if it maintains that the decisions are not based on the law or reveal a flaw in the procedure. Therefore, it is the Council's priority to always make careful and law-abiding decisions. This paper gives insight into the regulatory framework elements based on the laws including the Council's organisational structure and non-profit entities that will prepare act proposals for the Council and perform other professional activities. (author)

An empirical inquiry into the objective assessment and the top management perception of the need for organisational restructuring in large Croatian enterprises

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Nikša Alfirević

2000-01-01

Full Text Available On the basis of the extensive empirical research, this paper examines the objective need for organisational restructuring in large Croatian enterprises versus the managerial perceptions of the same issue. Building upon the analysis of the economic performance of the Croatian large enterprise sector and the assessment of the organisational design quality in large Croatian enterprises, the urgency for further organisational restructuring is established. On the other hand, the major restructuring motives at the top management level are also examined, leading to the conclusion that both the perceived quality of the organisational design, as well as the perceived gap between the enterprise competitive ability and the threats from the business environment at the top management level do not support the further restructuring of the Croatian large enterprise sector.

National healthcare information system in Croatian primary care: the foundation for improvement of quality and efficiency in patient care

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Darko Gvozdanovi_

2007-09-01

Full Text Available In order to improve the quality of patient care, while at the same time keeping up with the pace of increased needs of the population for healthcare services that directly impacts on the cost of care delivery processes, the Republic of Croatia, under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, has formed a strategy and campaign for national public healthcare system reform. The strategy is very comprehensive and addresses all niches of care delivery processes; it is founded on the enterprise information systems that will aim to support end-to-end business processes in the healthcare domain. Two major requirements are in focus: (1 to provide efficient healthcare-related data management in support of decision-making processes; (2 to support a continuous process of healthcare resource spending optimisation. The first project is the Integrated Healthcare Information System (IHCIS on the primary care level; this encompasses the integration of all primary point-of-care facilities and subjects with the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance and Croatian National Institute of Public Health. In years to come, IHCIS will serve as the main integration platform for connecting all other stakeholders and levels of health care (that is, hospitals, pharmacies, laboratories into a single enterprise healthcare network. This article gives an overview of Croatian public healthcare system strategy aims and goals, and focuses on properties and characteristics of the primary care project implementation that started in 2003; it achieved a major milestone in early 2007 - the official grand opening of the project with 350 GPs already fully connected to the integrated healthcare information infrastructure based on the IHCIS solution.

The Croatian Strategy of European Integration 2000-2005

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Mario Sošić

2005-01-01

Full Text Available In June 2000, the European Council established that Croatia fulfi lled the conditions for acquiring the status of potential candidate for membership in the European Union.Thereafter, the integration process aimed at the candidature for, and subsequent full membership in the EU has been the fundamental Croatian “governmental strategy” and foreign policy goal, developing with “diff erent speeds” and diff erent levels of success towards the fi nal expected goal. Research is focused on the identifi cation and description of actions of the major foreign and internal actors in the process (Croatian governments and the European Union, as well as on the assessment of the achieved results of their interaction in the sixyear period under observation. The empirically studied phenomenon is analysed through the theoretical approach of actor-based institutionalism and the game theory model. The result of analysis shows a comparative advantage of the management of Ivo Sanader’s single-party government (2003-2005 in contrast to the coalition government of Ivica Račan (2000-2003 with respect to their achievement and level of success in managing the process of European integration.The European Union’s contribution and quality of support to that process are ambiguous and complex, in keeping with its structure and politics.

Single Fuel Concept for Croatian Army Ground Vehicles

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Robert Spudić

2008-05-01

Full Text Available During the process of approaching the European associationsand NATO the Republic of Croatia has accepted the singlefuel concept for all ground vehicles of the Croatian Army.Croatia has also undertaken to insure that all aircraft, motorvehicles and equipment with turbo-engines or with pressurizedfuel injection, for participation in NATO and PfP led operationscan • operate using the kerosene-based aviation fuel(NATO F-34. The paper gives a brief overview and the resultsof the earned out activities in the Armed Forces of the Republicof Croatia, the expected behaviour of the motor vehicle andpossible delays caused by the use of kerosene fuel (NATOF-34 as fuel for motor vehicles. The paper also gives the advantagesand the drawbacks of the single fuel concept. By acquiringnew data in the Croatian Armed Forces and experienceexchange with other nations about the method of using fuelF-34, the development of the technologies of engine manufacturingand its vital parts or by introducing new standards in theproductjon of fuels and additives new knowledge will certainlybe acquired for providing logistics support in the area of operations,and its final implementation will be a big step forward forthe Republic of Croatia towards Europe and NATO.

Croatian Radiation Protection Association: From Yugoslavia to Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krajcar Bronic, I.; Miljanic, S.; Ranogajec-Komor, M.

2013-01-01

On the occasion of the fifty years of organised radiation protection activities at the area known as f ormer Yugoslavia , the professional activities and achievements in this field are presented in this paper. Croatian Radiation Protection Association (CRPA, www.hdzz.hr) was founded in 1979. In 1992 it became a regular member of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA). The main activities of CRPA members are: scientific research, participation in professional committees, intense cooperation in professional and scientific matters with the IRPA, other international bodies and Croatian scientific and professional societies, and related administrative work. CRPA members continue to provide advice and assistance to authorities, professional societies and individuals within their fields of expertise. Nine national symposia of CRPA with international participation were organized since 1991. All presentations were published as full papers in the Proceedings. CRPA participated in the organization of all IRPA Regional Congresses in Central Europe from 1993 (Obergurgl, Austria) till 2007 (Brasov, Romania). In 2001 CRPA hosted IRPA Regional Congress in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Members of CRPA are taking part in the organization of IRPA international congresses and in the work of IRPA General Assembly. CRPA has been actively involved in the informal meetings of European radiation protection societies since 2004 and organized their 6th meeting in Zagreb in 2009.(author)

The Embodiment of Class in the Croatian VET School System

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Doolan, Karin; Lukic, Natalija; Bukovic, Nikola

2016-01-01

This article engages with the notion that schools embody social class in their structures and practices. We draw on Bourdieu's critical concept of "field" to describe the larger landscape of Croatian secondary schooling: a stratified system whose routes serve, and have served, to reinforce the maintenance of class (under)privilege. We…

Models for predicting the inflectional paradigm of Croatian words

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Jan Šnajder

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Morphological analysis is a prerequisite for many natural language processing tasks. For inflectionally rich languages such as Croatian, morphological analysis typically relies on a morphological lexicon, which lists the lemmas and their paradigms. However, a real-life morphological analyzer must also be able to handle properly the out-of-vocabulary words. We address the task of predicting the correct inflectional paradigm of unknown Croatian words. We frame this as a supervised machine learning problem: we train a classifier to predict whether a candidate lemma-paradigm pair is correct based on a number of string- and corpus-based features. The candidate lemma-paradigm pairs are generated using a handcrafted morphology grammar. Our aim is to examine the machine learning aspect of the problem: we test a comprehensive set of features and evaluate the classification accuracy using different feature subsets. We show that satisfactory classification accuracy (92% can be achieved with SVM using a combination of string- and corpus-based features. On a per word basis, the F1-score is 53% and accuracy is 70%, which outperforms a frequency-based baseline by a wide margin. We discuss a number of possible directions for future research.

The importance of the Danube strategy for tourism and culture development of the Croatian Danube region

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Demonja Damir

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The Danube Region consists of various countries that are determined by geographic, economic, cultural and socio-demographic characteristics. Certain regions show different trends of development with increasing regional differences. Regarding that the importance gets newly formed EU Strategy for the Danube Region, the Danube Strategy, which represents a new approach to the European Union's macro-regions, and is focused on four main directions of cooperation in the Danube Region: linking macro-regions, environmental protection, building prosperity and strengthening macro-region. Croatia, as a Danube country, accepted the idea of creating a unified European international space, as suggested in the Danube Strategy, and it is actively engaged in the process. The Croatian Danube Region includes two easternmost counties, Osijek-Baranja and Vukovar-Srijem. The rich cultural and natu­ral heritage of the two counties can be further exploited in the improved tourist offer, advocated by the Strategy. Croatian Danube Region has tourism potentials and with the appropriate measures and incentives this region could become one of the leading regions in continental tourism in Croatia. This article presents and analyzes the Danube Strategy and its importance for Croatia, the tourist and cultural potentials of the Croatian Danube Region with regard to their greater recognition and utilization as crucial for sustainable development of this, in terms of tourism, still insufficiently developed parts of Croatia, and the possibilities of tourism and culture in the Croatian Danube Region within the framework of the Danube Strategy.

Regulation and Flexibility of the Croatian Labour Market

OpenAIRE

Vedran Sosic

2004-01-01

The Croatian Labor Code was significantly reformed in 2003 as a result of extensive negotiations lasting about two years. Proponents of the reform emphasized the supposed rigidity of the labor market, resulting from restrictive employment protection legislation, as a main rationale for the reform. Critics believed that the labor market is much more flexible than often thought due to inadequate enforcement of legislation. This study aims to assess the level of labor market dynamics by construc...

Critical Mass in the Boardroom of Croatian Banks

OpenAIRE

Kramaric Tomislava Pavic; Miletic Marko

2017-01-01

This paper investigates the influence of gender diversity in the boardroom of Croatian banks on their performance. Specifically, we deal with both management and supervisory boards. Moreover, based on critical mass theory, the authors try to find out what constitutes critical mass. Using a static panel analysis on a sample of all commercial banks that operated in the period 2002-2014, three models were estimated with return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and net interest margin (NIM)...

Sign restriction approach to macro stress-testing of the Croatian banking system

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Nataša Erjavec

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The paper employs Uhlig’s sign restriction approach to stress-testing of the Croatian banking system. The analysis is based on a standard monetary VAR comprising real economic activity, inflation and short-term interest rates augmented by the ratio of non-performing loans or return on average equity, both measures representing the aggregate banking sector. In spite of the selected indicator, the results suggest a strong sensitivity of the Croatian banking sector to macroeconomic shocks. The effects are the strongest for contractionary monetary policy shocks, followed by negative demand shocks while the effects of supply shocks turned out to be statistically insignificant. Since Croatia is a small open economy with banking the dominant financial sector, the results obtained could be interesting for policy makers in Croatia and other transition economies with similar characteristics.

The profile of selected samples of Croatian athletes based on the items of sport jealousy scale (SJS

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Sindik Joško

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The role of jealousy in sport, as a negative emotional reaction, accompanied by thoughts of inadequacy when compared to others, is the issue of this article. This study had a purpose to define the characteristic profiles of the Croatian athletes, based on single items of Sport Jealousy Scale (SJS II, labeled by several variables: gender, type of sport, age group. Purposive sample of 73 athletes competing at Croatian championships in different sports (football, bowling, volleyball and handball were examined with Croatian version of SJS-II. Three clusters obtained are similarly balanced, according to the number of cases in each cluster. The most simply explained, clusters clearly differentiate the most jealous, moderately jealous and slightly/low jealous athletes. Among the features of the athletes in each cluster, in the most jealous (first cluster are the athletes from team sports, women and older athletes. Females, bowling athletes, athletes from individual (coactive sports and the youngest athletes are the least jealous (grouped in third cluster.

Descriptive study of job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction in a sample of Croatian seafarers.

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Slišković, Ana; Penezić, Zvjezdan

2015-01-01

Given the general lack of studies on well-being in Croatian seafarers, the aim of this study was to determine the level and sources of their job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction. This descriptive study was conducted on a sample of Croatian seafarers (n = 530), employed in various functions on cargo ships. Using an online survey, we examined overall job satisfaction, and satisfaction with some specific aspects of work. Participants additionally responded to two open questions relating to the sources of their job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction, and these data were analysed using a qualitative approach. The results showed a moderate level of overall job satisfaction, while analysis of the 10 specific facets indicated that the participants are, on average, most satisfied with payment, and least satisfied with the achieved benefits and work organisation on board. The results of the qualitative analysis showed that among the main sources of job satisfaction are: financial stability and security, the ratio of work days to days off, and the quality of days off, and the nature and dynamics of the work. On the other hand, sources of dissatisfaction relate primarily to: separation from home and family, the status of Croatian seafarers in the Republic of Croatia, and working and living conditions on board.

TEST OF THE CHEN-ROLL-ROSS MACROECONOMIC FACTOR MODEL: EVIDENCE FROM CROATIAN STOCK MARKET

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Denis Dolinar

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper empirically examines the well-known Chen-Roll-Ross model on the Croatian stock market. Modifications of definitions of the Chen-Roll-Ross model variables showed as necessary because of doubtful availability and quality of input data needed. Namely, some macroeconomic and market variables are not available in the originally defined form or do not exist. In that sense this paper gives some alternative definitions for some model variables. Also, in order to improve statistical analysis, in this paper we have modified Fama-MacBeth technique in the way that second-pass regression was substituted with panel regression analysis. Based on the two-pass regression analysis of returns of 34 Croatian stocks on 4 macroeconomic variables during the seven-and-half-year observation period the following conclusion is made. In contrast to the results of Chen, Roll and Ross (1986 for the U.S. stock market, their model is not successful when describing a risk-return relation of Croatian stocks. Nevertheless, one observed version of the Chen-RollRoss model showed certain statistical significance. Namely, two risk factors in that version of the model were statistically significant: default premium, measured as risk premium for the corporate short-term bank loan financing, and term structure premium, measured on short-run basis.

Population genetic structure of Rhizoctonia solani AG 3-PT from potatoes in South Africa.

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Muzhinji, Norman; Woodhall, James W; Truter, Mariette; van der Waals, Jacquie E

2016-05-01

Rhizoctonia solani AG 3-PT is an important potato pathogen causing significant yield and quality losses in potato production. However, little is known about the levels of genetic diversity and structure of this pathogen in South Africa. A total of 114 R. solani AG 3-PT isolates collected from four geographic regions were analysed for genetic diversity and structure using eight microsatellite loci. Microsatellite analysis found high intra-population genetic diversity, population differentiation and evidence of recombination. A total of 78 multilocus genotypes were identified with few shared among populations. Low levels of clonality (13-39 %) and high levels of population differentiation were observed among populations. Most of the loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and all four populations showed evidence of a mixed reproductive mode of both clonality and recombination. The PCoA clustering method revealed genetically distinct geographic populations of R. solani AG 3-PT in South Africa. This study showed that populations of R. solani AG 3-PT in South Africa are genetically differentiated and disease management strategies should be applied accordingly. This is the first study of the population genetics of R. solani AG 3-PT in South Africa and results may help to develop knowledge-based disease management strategies. Copyright © 2016 The British Mycological Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solidary Dimension of Bio-Ethical Challenges in Croatian Society

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MATULIĆ, Tonči

2006-01-01

This contribution investigates the solidary dimensions of bio-ethical challenges with special reflection on their situation and demands in Croatian society. The research unfolds in several stages. The introduction questions the state of today's cultural situation within which bio-ethical challenges emerge. In continuation, the paper investigates relations between social issues as a world notion and bio-ethical challenges that undoubtedly constitute a vital component of that issue. This is par...

Population demographics of two local South Carolina mourning dove populations

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McGowan, D.P.; Otis, D.L.

1998-01-01

The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) call-count index had a significant (P 2,300 doves and examined >6,000 individuals during harvest bag checks. An age-specific band recovery model with time- and area-specific recovery rates, and constant survival rates, was chosen for estimation via Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC), likelihood ratio, and goodness-of-fit criteria. After-hatching-year (AHY) annual survival rate was 0.359 (SE = 0.056), and hatching-year (HY) annual survival rate was 0.118 (SE = 0.042). Average estimated recruitment per adult female into the prehunting season population was 3.40 (SE = 1.25) and 2.32 (SE = 0.46) for the 2 study areas. Our movement data support earlier hypotheses of nonmigratory breeding and harvested populations in South Carolina. Low survival rates and estimated population growth rate in the study areas may be representative only of small-scale areas that are heavily managed for dove hunting. Source-sink theory was used to develop a model of region-wide populations that is composed of source areas with positive growth rates and sink areas of declining growth. We suggest management of mourning doves in the Southeast might benefit from improved understanding of local population dynamics, as opposed to regional-scale population demographics.

English Words and Phrases in Croatian: A Small-Scale Study of Language Awareness and Attitudes

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Marija Perić

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The focus of this paper is on language attitudes towards English words and phrases in the Croatian language. In order to prevent loanwords, linguistic purism has arisen as a theory about what languages should be like. The tradition of linguistic purism in Croatia has been shaped by various socio-historical factors. English may be viewed as a language of opportunity, or as a threat to the survival of other, usually minority and endangered, languages. In order to provide an insight into the use of English words and phrases in the Croatian context, a questionnaire about language attitudes and awareness was conducted on 534 participants. The aim of the questionnaire was to determine participants’ language attitudes and familiarity with English words and phrases. The results show that although people in Croatia generally like English, many of them are not familiar with English words, especially older participants and those with little or no knowledge of the English language. Moreover, the results indicate that the younger generation is more inclined towards English than the older generation; however, they are not as familiar with Croatian equivalents as they claim.

Potentials for energy savings and long term energy demands for Croatian households sector

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pukšec, Tomislav; Mathiesen, Brian Vad; Duic, Neven

2011-01-01

demand in the future, based on careful and rational energy planning. Different financial, legal and technological mechanisms can lead to significant savings in the households sector which also leads to lesser greenhouse gas emissions and lower Croatian dependence on foreign fossil fuels....... relevant. In order to plan future energy systems it is important to know future possibilities and needs regarding energy demand for different sectors. Through this paper long term energy demand projections for Croatian households sector will be shown with a special emphasis on different mechanisms, both...... financial, legal but also technological that will influence future energy demand scenarios. It is important to see how these mechanisms influence, positive or negative, on future energy demand and which mechanism would be most influential. Energy demand predictions in this paper are based upon bottom...

Potentials for energy savings and long term energy demands for Croatian households sector

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pukšec, Tomislav; Mathiesen, Brian Vad; Duic, Neven

2013-01-01

demand in the future, based on careful and rational energy planning. Different financial, legal and technological mechanisms can lead to significant savings in the households sector which also leads to lesser greenhouse gas emissions and lower Croatian dependence on foreign fossil fuels....... relevant. In order to plan future energy systems it is important to know future possibilities and needs regarding energy demand for different sectors. Through this paper long term energy demand projections for Croatian households sector will be shown with a special emphasis on different mechanisms, both...... financial, legal but also technological that will influence future energy demand scenarios. It is important to see how these mechanisms influence, positive or negative, on future energy demand and which mechanism would be most influential. Energy demand predictions in this paper are based upon bottom...

Proposal for a new detection method of substance abuse risk in Croatian adolescents

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Sanja Tatalovic Vorkapic

2011-01-01

Full Text Available One of the most important factors of successful substance abuse treatment is the early start of the same treatment. Recent selection method for identification of Croatian adolescents in the substance abuse risk that has been using drug tests from urine samples, has been simple and exact on the one hand, but on the other, has been very rare and usually guided by the pressure of parents or the court. Besides, such method presented the source of legal and ethical questions. So, the proposal of application of standardized psychological tests during systematic medical exams of Croatian adolescents at the age range of 15-22 years could help with the early detection of those adolescents who were in the substance abuse risk or already had the developed addiction problem.

Comparative population genetics of the German shepherd dog in South Africa

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N. J. Coutts

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Modern breeding practices strive to achieve distinctive phenotypic uniformity in breeds of dogs, but these strategies are associated with the inevitable loss of genetic diversity. Thus, in parallel with the morphological variation displayed by breeds, purebred dogs commonly express genetic defects as a result of the inbreeding associated with artificial selection and the reduction of selection against disease phenotypes. Microsatellite marker analyses of 15 polymorphic canine loci were used to investigate measures of genetic diversity and population differentiation within and between German-bred and South African-bred German shepherd dogs. These data were quantified by comparison with typically outbred mongrel or crossbred dogs. Both the imported and locally-bred German shepherd dogs exhibited similar levels of genetic diversity. The breed is characterised by only a moderate loss of genetic diversity relative to outbred dogs, despite originating from a single founding sire and experiencing extensive levels of inbreeding throughout the history of the breed. Non-significant population differentiation between the ancestral German and derived South African populations indicates sufficient contemporary gene flow between these populations, suggesting that migration resulting from the importation of breeding stock has mitigated the effects of random genetic drift and a population bottleneck caused by the original founder event in South Africa. Significant differentiation between the combined German shepherd dog population and the outbred dogs illustrates the effects of selection and genetic drift on the breed since its establishment just over 100 years ago.

Transparency report delay and disclosure by Croatian audit firms

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Marko Čular

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate transparency report (TR disclosure and determinants of TR delay, using Croatian listed companies and audit firms who audited Croatian listed companies in 2015. TR disclosure is measured using the TR index whereas the TR delay is measured as the number of days between the financial year-end and the publication date of the TR by an audit firms. We first analyzed the position and difference between audit firm indicators and types of audit firm using the following: number of certified auditors, number of employees, average net salary, total revenue, net profit, net working capital, total assets, total capital and financial ratio. Second, we used the TR index to determine the existence of TR elements and whether the audit firm made a disclosure. Finally, we used multiple regressions for modelling the TR delay as a function of the following variables: number of certified auditors, number of audits per year, return on assets and the TR index. Our results indicate that based on the TR index only 32% audit firms are transparent. Furthermore, the TR delay is shorter when audit firms have a greater number of certified auditors and a higher TR index, i.e. when audit firms incorporate more elements into the TR.

Dividends Provisions in Croatian Double Taxation Agreements

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Marjeta Tomulić Vehovec

2007-03-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the provisions concerning dividends in the double taxation avoidance agreements concluded by the Republic of Croatia. Since the base for taxation is necessarily laid down in domestic law, Croatian legislation is examined as well. The author primarily discusses dividends provisions in four agreements signed with Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia, in addition to analyzing the differences from and similarities with the OECD Model Convention. Second, the paper briefly explains the methods for eliminating double taxation on income from dividends. Finally, it addresses the changes necessary for accession to the European Union.

Measurement of Radioactivity in Some Croatian Regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orehovec, Z.; Ilijas, B.; Bokan, S.

2001-01-01

Full text: After Government of Canada expressed its suspicion that Canadian soldiers who were included in UNPROFOR mission in Croatia were exposed to increased radioactivity and possible some chemical influences, a large action of measuring and sampling was undertaken. Canadian and Croatian experts were working together and a very large number of samples was collected. Measurements of alpha, beta and gamma radioactivity on terrain, as well as later analysis of samples showed no increased radioactivity or any other signs of radioactive contamination. The conclusion is that any possible diseases of Canadian soldiers can not originate from radiation or radioactive contamination in Croatia. (author)

COMPETITIVENESS OF CROATIAN PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING OF WHEAT ON THE EU MARKET

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Davor Balaž

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Analysis of competitiveness is a demanding process that includes data collection and comparison on the macro and micro economic basis. For the purposes of this study, an analysis the available data on the production and processing of wheat in the Republic of Croatia and the European Union (desk research, 5 Region of eastern Croatian (130 samples of producers, and processors of wheat 18 samples was conducted. Based on the collected data, an analysis of the samples structure was conducted according to different variables in accordance with the performed descriptive statistical analysis for ordinal variables and quantitative (the metering and interval. The data analysis resulted in calculations using the cost competitiveness of domestic resources (DRC, and making analytical matrix (PAM. The calculation of separated coefficient (DRC has not confirmed the competitiveness of Croatian wheat production for the reference year. Possible necessary adjustments to business standards, foreign trade, foreign trade protection and domestic support under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP have been identified. The study was conducted to evaluate the economic performance of Croatian production and processing of wheat in simulated conditions, using the method calculating the coefficient of DRC. The performed calculations showed mutual diseconomic interdependence of production and processing of wheat in the Republic of Croatia, with a positive impact on the stability and sustainability of the business in rural areas. Based on the research it was found out that there are conditions for the quantitative and qualitative increase in the production and processing of wheat in the Republic of Croatia.

Universal Dependencies for Serbian in Comparison with Croatian and Other Slavic Languages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Starovic, Mirjana; Samardzic, Tanja; Agic, Zeljko

2017-01-01

The paper documents the procedure of building a new Universal Dependencies (UDv2) treebank for Serbian starting from an existing Croatian UDv1 treebank and taking into account the other Slavic UD annotation guidelines. We describe the automatic and manual annotation procedures, discuss the annota...

Upward Mobility Criteria from Croatian Women's Point of View

OpenAIRE

Djula Borozan

2006-01-01

Little is generally known about the factors affecting the career advancement of women in the world of work. This is especially true for Croatia. Formally and legally, women should have equal opportunities for employment and advancement as their male counterparts have. However, in practice, situations are often different due to socio-cultural, support systems, self imposed barriers and the like. This paper examines factors facilitating and hindering career advancement from the Croatian women’s...

Analysis of the Financial Support by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports to Croatian Scientific Journals

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Macan, B.

2008-03-01

Full Text Available The Ministry of Science, Education and Sports (MSES provides financial support for publishing scientific and scientific/professional journals . The journals should satisfy the following conditions: regular publishing, coherence with the “Notes for editing primary scientific publications”, inclusion in at least one international bibliographic database relevant for the specific scientific field, review procedure, existence of a web page with at least basic information about the journal and a table of contents of the latest issue. The MSES also provides financial help for publishing journals dedicated to promoting science, which is awarded by special decision of the Commission for publishing.2In the year 2007, the MSES financially supported 220 Croatian scientific, scientific/professional journals, and journals for the promotion of science from the fields of humanities, natural, technical, biotechnical, social, biomedical and health care sciences with 15 million Croatian kunas in total.5 More than 50 % of the supported journals are from humanities and social sciences, while only 20 of the titles (9 % belong to biotechnical journals (Fig. 1. Distribution of financial support by scientific fields is similar (Fig. 2. The average financial support is HRK 68,181.82 per journal.The highest average amount per journal is given to journals from biomedical and health care sciences (HRK 83,758.42, while the lowest support is given to humanities journals (HRK54,138.20 (Fig. 3.If we divide the amount of MSES financial support in 2007 into 5 classes, each class being HRK 50,000 , it is obvious that the majority of journals (122 titles or 55.45 % was supported with less than HRK 50,000; about a quarter of the journals with an amount between HRK 50,000 and HRK 100,000; and 11 journals with more than HRK 200,000 (Fig. 4.In order to compare the criteria for scientific advancement (papers published in journals covered by Thomson Scientific databases is given

Radioactivity And Nuclear Themes In Croatian Popular Culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franic, Z.; Franic, S.

2015-01-01

Popular culture refers to the entirety of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, behaviours, ways of communication, cultural and artistic products, (visual, auditory, written, etc.) as well as other phenomena in the real or virtual world within mainstream culture. Heavily influenced by mass media, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of society. In the so-called atomic age, which corresponds to the cold war period, stylistic coloration and application of the concepts of radiation that have persisted in everyday life to this day can be classified into four main groups of radiological-nuclear themes: monsters and mutants associated with radiation, nuclear accidents, nuclear terrorism and nuclear optimism. This paper discusses some examples relating to radioactivity, radiation and nuclear topics in Croatian popular culture, with special reference to the mass media, including some Internet portals. In Croatian mass media, like in other cultures, radiation and nuclear metaphors symbolize something scary and completely incomprehensible. However, further systematic research would be needed to analyse and explain all of the stereotypes in more detail. Results would be useful in creating a more effective way for informing the general public about the effects and use of radiation and nuclear technology, which is expected to play a far greater role in solving numerous problems dealing with energy supply, medicine, etc. in the near future. It should be noted that nowadays the collective public fears shift from radiation to other global threats such as climate change, genetically modified organisms, global terrorism and others. (author).

BUSINESS SURVEY LIQUIDITY MEASURE AS A LEADING INDICATOR OF CROATIAN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

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Mirjana Čižmešija

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Business survey liquidity measure is one of the modifications of the uniform EU business survey methodology applied in Croatia. Consequent liquidity problem have been, since socialist times, one of the major problem for Croatia's business. The problem rapidly increased between 1995 and 2000 and now it again represents the main difficulty for the Croatian economy. In order to improve the forecasting properties of business survey liquidity measure, some econometric models ware applied. Based on the regression analysis we concluded that the changes in the liquidity variable can predict the direction of changes in industrial production with one quarter lead. The results also show that liquidity can be a proxy of the Industrial Confidence Indicator in the observed period. The empirical analysis was performed using quarterly data covering the period from the first quarter 2005 to the fourth quarter 2011. The data sources were Privredni vjesnik (a business magazine in Croatia and the Croatian Bureau of Statistics.

VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOWS INFORMATION AND COMPANY'S CHARACTERISTICS: EVIDENCE FROM THE CROATIAN CAPITAL MARKET

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Željana Aljinović Barać

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the voluntary disclosure of cash flows information of Croatian large companies whose shares are listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, with the aim to identify characteristics of companies that provide extensive disclosures. In order to conduct the research and test the likelihood that company publicly announces wealth of information about cash flows, three groups of company’s features are defined as variables: accounting data, capital market information and company’s qualitative characteristics. Verification of empirical evidence was provided through the sample of Croatian listed companies using logistic regression analysis. Obtained results indicate that despite the desire of the regulatory authorities that capital market investors receive all relevant information, companies voluntarily disclose information about cash flows very rarely. Those companies are young (i.e. their shares are listed on an organized securities market for a short time and profitable, with growing net income and growing cash flow from operating activities and usually use indirect method for operating cash flow report. The provision of features of Croatian companies that voluntary disclose cash flow information can be found as contribution of our research, because this topic in a cases of macro-oriented accounting system economies, i.e. bank oriented economies with emerging capital market is still unexplored.

Proceedings of 7th Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barisic, D; Grahek, Z; Krajcar Bronic, I; Miljanic, S

2008-07-01

The 7th symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association discussed the following topics: general topics; radiation dosimetry and instrumentation; biological effects of radiation; radiation protection in medicine; radioecology and radon. For each subject many investigations, experiments, examples and results are presented. International character of this symposium shows importance of these topics not only in region but world wide.

Proceedings of 7th Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barisic, D.; Grahek, Z.; Krajcar Bronic, I.; Miljanic, S.

2008-01-01

The 7th symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association discussed the following topics: general topics; radiation dosimetry and instrumentation; biological effects of radiation; radiation protection in medicine; radioecology and radon. For each subject many investigations, experiments, examples and results are presented. International character of this symposium shows importance of these topics not only in region but world wide

Tagging Named Entities in Croatian Tweets

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Krešimir Baksa

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Named entity extraction tools designed for recognizing named entities in texts written in standard language (e.g., news stories or legal texts have been shown to be inadequate for user-generated textual content (e.g., tweets, forum posts. In this work, we propose a supervised approach to named entity recognition and classification for Croatian tweets. We compare two sequence labelling models: a hidden Markov model (HMM and conditional random fields (CRF. Our experiments reveal that CRF is the best model for the task, achieving a very good performance of over 87% micro-averaged F1 score. We analyse the contributions of different feature groups and influence of the training set size on the performance of the CRF model.

Testing The ‘Black Swan Effect’ on Croatian Stock Market Between 2000 and 2013

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Anita Radman Peša

2016-02-01

Full Text Available We tested the economic activity and stock exchange of Croatia as a new country of EU in order to investigate the ‘Black Swan effect’ from 2000 to 2013. The empirical findings obtained in application of OLS methodology and Chow breaking point test provide evidence and show that resignation of the Croatian ex Prime Minister lead country successfully to EU, but were also ‘The Black Swan’ event, being unpredictable and having huge impact on political and economic environment in Croatia obtained through CROBEX, Croatian stock exchange indices. Authors conclude that the resignation was connected to one of the first significant cases of corruption in Croatia which has got the negative impact on the economic development of the country in general, dealing at the same time with global recession.

Anthropometric analysis of the hip joint in South Indian population using computed tomography

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Vetrivel Chezian Sengodan

2017-01-01

Conclusion: This study indicates that there are significant differences in anthropometric parameters of proximal femur among the South Indian population compared with Western population. Even within the Indian population, the anthropometric parameters vary region to region.

Levels of major and trace elements, including rare earth elements, and ²³⁸U in Croatian tap waters.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiket, Željka; Rožmarić, Martina; Krmpotić, Matea; Benedik, Ljudmila

2015-05-01

Concentrations of 46 elements, including major, trace, and rare earth elements, and (238)U in Croatian tap waters were investigated. Selected sampling locations include tap waters from various hydrogeological regions, i.e., different types of aquifers, providing insight into the range of concentrations of studied elements and (238)U activity concentrations in Croatian tap waters. Obtained concentrations were compared with the Croatian maximum contaminant levels for trace elements in water intended for human consumption, as well as WHO and EPA drinking water standards. Concentrations in all analyzed tap waters were found in accordance with Croatian regulations, except tap water from Šibenik in which manganese in concentration above maximum permissible concentration (MPC) was measured. Furthermore, in tap water from Osijek, levels of arsenic exceeded the WHO guidelines and EPA regulations. In general, investigated tap waters were found to vary considerably in concentrations of studied elements, including (238)U activity concentrations. Causes of variability were further explored using statistical methods. Composition of studied tap waters was found to be predominately influenced by hydrogeological characteristics of the aquifer, at regional and local level, the existing redox conditions, and the household plumbing system. Rare earth element data, including abundances and fractionation patterns, complemented the characterization and facilitated the interpretation of factors affecting the composition of the analyzed tap waters.

Croatian Participation at National Symposia and International Congresses on Radiation Protection 1992-2002

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krajcar Bronic, I.; Ranogajec-Komor, M

2003-01-01

Croatian Radiation Protection Association (CRPA) was formed as an independent association in 1991, and since 1992 it is a member of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA). CRPA organises regular national symposia with international participation, and takes part in organisation of regional IRPA congresses. The members of CRPA take part also in international and European congresses. In this paper we analyse the participation of Croatian authors in national symposia and international congresses in the period from 1992 to 2002. The number of papers in proceedings of the national symposia is rather constant (about 60), while at the First symposium in 1992 it was slightly higher (68). The fraction of papers by Croatian authors was also the highest at the First Symposium (∼ 90%), while at the following symposia it varied between 70% and 80%. Although the analysed period is rather short, one can see slight changes in the research topics. Radioecology, including radon and related topics, was the most frequent research area (36% of all papers) at the national CRPA symposia 1992-1998, followed by the biological effects of radiation and radiation protection in medicine (24%), dosimetry, methods and instrumentation (21%), general topics (11%) and radioactive waste (7%). The distribution of topics at the Fifth symposium is: 27% radioecology and radon, 30% biological and medical topics, as well as professional and public exposure, 24% dosimetry, 14% general topics and 5% non-ionising radiations. In this Symposium we have separate sections for non-ionising radiations and public exposure, although several papers on these subjects were presented already at the previous symposia. (author)

From Conciliation to Mediation in Family Disputes-Harmonization of Croatian Family Legislation on Peaceful Resolution of Family Disputes with EU law

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Paula Poretti

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The reform process of family law was initiated with one aim to promote protection of family and children and harmonize Croatian law with European and international standards in this field. In this respect, the intervention institute governed by Croatian family law with the purpose to facilitate reconciliation or in cases where reconciliation between spouses is not achieved, to provide information regarding legal consequences of divorce and possibly to achieve agreement between spouses as for their relationship in future was deemed inadequate in regards to the approach provided by European documents on regulation of peaceful resolution of family disputes. Under the influence thereof, new family legislation redefines intervention and introduces mandatory counselling and family mediation as foundations of the system of alternative dispute resolution of all family disputes in Croatian law.

Managing the Cash and Liquidity of the Croatian Budget

OpenAIRE

Anto Bajo

2005-01-01

The principal proposition this paper will endeavour to maintain is that the liquidity of the budget is not fully managed by the Ministry of Finance, which is why it is unable, in collaboration with the Croatian National Bank, to rein in and slow down the growth in short-term public debt. Only since 2001, thanks to institutional improvements, have the conditions been created in the Ministry of Finance for cash and liquidity management. Thus payments operations, previously in the hands of a gov...

Proceedings of 8th Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krajcar Bronic, I; Kopjar, N; Milic, M; Branica, G

2011-07-01

The 8th symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association discussed the following topics: general topics; radiation dosimetry and instrumentation; public exposure; biological effects of radiation; radiation protection in medicine; radioecology and non-ionizing radiation. For each subject many investigations, experiments, examples and results are presented. International character of this symposium shows importance of these topics not only in region but world wide.

Proceedings of 8th Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krajcar Bronic, I.; Kopjar, N.; Milic, M.; Branica, G.

2011-01-01

The 8th symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association discussed the following topics: general topics; radiation dosimetry and instrumentation; public exposure; biological effects of radiation; radiation protection in medicine; radioecology and non-ionizing radiation. For each subject many investigations, experiments, examples and results are presented. International character of this symposium shows importance of these topics not only in region but world wide.

Proceedings of 9th Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knezevic, Z.; Krajcar Bronic, I.; Majer, M.

2013-01-01

The 9th symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association discussed the following topics: general topics; radiation dosimetry; public exposure; biological effects of radiation; radiation protection in medicine; radioecology and instrumentation and measuring techniques. For each subject many investigations, experiments, examples and results are presented. International character of this symposium shows importance of these topics not only in region but world wide.

The Benefits of the ABC Method Application in Croatian Companies

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Dubravka Pekanov-Starčević

2013-07-01

Full Text Available New business environment has changed the structure and behaviour of company costs. The changes are primarily reflected in the increasing share of overhead costs in the total costs. Given that competitiveness is reflected in the unit product cost, the exact determination of unit costs by cost drivers, primarily the precise allocation of overhead costs to cost drivers, have become crucial to the survival of companies in a turbulent market environment. The biggest problem in determining the exact product costs is incorrect allocation of overhead costs to cost drivers. In the 1980s, a new method of allocating overhead costs was developed – activity-based costing (ABC method. Advocates of this method claim that it allows a more accurate determination of product costs and identification and elimination of activities that do not add value to the company, thereby reducing costs and increasing profits, and ultimately creating and sustaining a competitive advantage. Using a sample of Croatian companies listed on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, we investigated to which extent they applied activity-based costing; its benefits to the cost management system, and which factors influenced the application of this methodology. This study provides a new insight into the development of cost management systems in Croatian companies.

ABO blood groups and psychiatric disorders: a Croatian study.

Science.gov (United States)

Pisk, Sandra Vuk; Vuk, Tomislav; Ivezić, Ena; Jukić, Irena; Bingulac-Popović, Jasna; Filipčić, Igor

2018-02-15

The prevalence of ABO alleles is different in different populations, and many studies have shown a correlation between the occurrences of some diseases and different genotypes of ABO blood groups. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a significant association between psychiatric syndromes and ABO blood groups. This case-control study involved 156 psychiatric patients and 303 healthy, unrelated, voluntary blood donors. Genomic DNA was isolated from blood on a QIAcube device using a QIAamp DNA Blood mini QIAcube kit. ABO genotyping on five basic ABO alleles was performed using allele-specific polymerase chain reaction analysis. Compared with healthy subjects, a significantly higher proportion of psychiatric patients had AB blood group (χ 2 =9.359, df=3, p=0.025) and, accordingly, a significantly higher incidence of A1B genotype (χ 2 =8.226, df=3, p=0.042). The odds ratio showed that psychiatric disorders occur almost three times more frequently in carriers of AB group compared to other blood groups. However, no statistically significant difference was found in the distribution of ABO blood groups among patients with different psychiatric diagnoses. Likewise, no correlations were found between ABO blood groups and other characteristics of the psychiatric patients (sex, psychiatric heredity, somatic comorbidity, suicidality). The results of this study support the hypothesis of an association between psychiatric disorders and ABO blood groups. The probability is that psychiatric disorders will occur almost three times more frequently in carriers of AB group compared to other ABO blood groups in the Croatian population.

An evaluation of nasal bone and aperture shape among three South African populations.

Science.gov (United States)

McDowell, Jennifer L; Kenyhercz, Michael W; L'Abbé, Ericka N

2015-07-01

Reliable and valid population specific standards are necessary to accurately develop a biological profile, which includes an estimation of peer-reported social identification (Hefner, 2009). During the last 300 years, colonialism, slavery and apartheid created geographic, physical and social divisions of population groups in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to evaluate variation in nasal bone and aperture shape in a modern population of black, white, and coloured South Africans using standard craniometric variables and geometric morphometrics, namely general Procrustes and elliptical Fourier analyses. Fourteen standard landmarks were digitally recorded or computationally derived from 310 crania using a 3D coordinate digitizer for discriminant function, principal components and generalized Procrustes analyses. For elliptical Fourier analysis, outlines of the nasal aperture were generated from standardized photographs. All classification accuracies were better than chance; the lowest accuracies were for coloured and the highest accuracies were for white South Africans. Most difficulties arose in distinguishing coloured and black South African groups from each other. Generally, misclassifications were noted between the sexes within each group rather than among groups, which suggests that sex has less influence on nasal bone and aperture shape than ancestry. Quantifiable variation in shape of the nasal aperture region between white and non-white South African groups was observed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Croatian Energy Sector Reform - Results Achieved

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nota, R.

2001-01-01

During the past ten years, the energy sector has passed through significant changes including fundamental market, economic, legislative and institutional aspects of sector operation. As the main goal of the Republic of Croatia is the integration into the European Union, the energy sector reform ought to be conducted in keeping with the present market development processes of the EU in such a way as to fulfil all safety criteria. In view of the above mentioned, the Croatian Parliament brought a number of laws during its session in July 2001 (''Official Gazette'' 68/01): 1. Energy Law 2. Energy Activities Regulation Law 3. Electricity Market Law 4. Gas Market Law 5. Oil and Oil Derivatives Market Law, which present the commencement of the energy sector reform (www.mingo.hr).(author)

MARICULTURE ON CROATIAN ISLANDS

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Gordana Šarušić

2000-09-01

Full Text Available The first attempts of intensive mariculture in Croatia commenced at the very beginning of 1980’s. The mid-eighties brought an expansion of mariculture production, which has been continuously increasing. A few different marine organisms are intensively cultured - both fish and shellfish. Among them commercially most important and highly valued species are sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax and sea bream Sparus aurata. Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and oyster Ostrea edulis are the most important shellfish. Fish species such as dentex Dentex dentex, red sea bream Pagrus major and sheepshead bream Puntazzo puntazzo are reared too, but in a rather small quantities. Only recently the rearing, on-growing- of bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus started in Croatia. The juveniles (70% are reared in a Croatian hatcheries, and 30% has to be imported mainly from Italy and France, due to a higher demand for this kind of culture among the small growers. Croatian part of Adriatic sea possesses a number of geomorfologicaly suitable sites and meteorological conditions which determined the choice - type - of intensive culture. All fish species are reared in a floating cages. The choice of cages i. e. semi off-shore or floating frames, size, rearing volume and design depend on the investors personal preference. The annual turnouf of a market size bass was about 600t and 300t bream in 1996., by 10 island farms which is 70% of total production in Croatia. Including other cultured fish species last year production was up to 1000t, and it™s being estimated to be about 1300t in the following year. The shellfish production on the islands is usually individual attempt of farmers, producing minor quantities mostly in polyculture. This production has bigger potential but it’s limited owing to the EU quality control regulations which do not allow the export, and by domestic market which has drastically decreased due to the collapse of tourism during the recent war. Almost 80

Implications of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union for Croatian health care system.

Science.gov (United States)

Ostojić, Rajko; Bilas, Vlatka; Franc, Sanja

2012-09-01

The Republic of Croatia's accession to the European Union (EU) will affect all segments of economy and society, including the health care system. The aim of this paper is to establish the potential effects of joining the EU on Croatian health care, as well as to assess its readiness to enter this regional economic integration. The paper identifies potential areas of impact of EU accession on Croatian health care and analyzes the results of the conducted empirical research. In this research, a method of in-depth interviews was applied on a sample of 49 subjects; health professionals from public and private sectors, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, drug wholesalers, and non-governmental organisations (patient associations). Once Croatia joins the EU, it will face: new rules and priorities in line with the current European health strategy; the possibilities of drawing funds from European cohesion funds; labour migrations; new guidelines on patient safety and mobility. From the aspect of harmonising national regulations with EU regulations in the area of health care, Croatian system can be assessed as ready to enter the EU. Croatia's accession to the EU can result in a better information flow, growth of competitiveness of Croatian health care system, enhanced quality, inflow of EU funds, development of health tourism, but also in increased migration of health care professionals, and potential increase in the cost of health care services. Functioning within the EU framework might result in adaptation to the EU standards, but it could also result in the concentration of staff and institutions in larger cities.

A CONTRIBUTION TO THE CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS OF PHRASEMES WITH COLOR ELEMENTS IN CROATIAN, ITALIAN AND GERMAN PHRASEOLOGY

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Maja Opašić

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the selected examples of phrasemes with color elements in the Croatian, Italian and German language. Colors have a role in everyday life and, in that respect - language, where their visual and symbolic role is evident. Therefore, the paper first explains the origins and symbolism of red, blue, green, yellow and pink, and then contrastive analysis is conducted. While doing so, correspondences and differences in the phrases of Croatian, Italian and German language are analyzed. It also explains the amount of symbolism in a particular color presented in the phraseme background, i.e. how it motivated its meaning.

Croatian Telecommunication Market: Concentration Trends in the Period from 2003 to 2008

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Mirjana Pejić Bach

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Telecommunication markets are a valuable factor that contributes to the economic growth and development. The development of the telecommunication markets and services was slower in the countries in transition than in developed European countries, altough after the fall of communism countries in transition implemented a big progress in spreading and modernizing of their telecommunication network.The paper analysis the level of concentration of telecommunication industry in Croatia from 2003 to 2008. The data used in the analysis consider 50 Croatian largest IT firms that are operating on telecommunication market and specific telecommunication sectors: producers of telecommunication equipment, distributers of telecommunication services and implementers of telecommunication solutions. The main two conclusions of this article are: (1 degree of concentration on the telecommunication market in Croatia changed differently in different market shares, (2 degree of concentration on the telecommunication market in Croatia is influenced by different barriers to enter the market.The analysis finds that Croatian telecommunication industry is in a good position even a few steps ahead of some other transition countries.

Safety Assessment Context for Croatian Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste Repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levanat, I.; Lokner, V.

1998-01-01

Safety assessments in a small country are usually performed to support the national waste management strategy, demonstrating compliance with national regulation for a particular facility. However, this assessment should - quite generally - provide reasonable assurance both to the public and to decision makers than the Croatian share of LILW from NPP Krsko can be safely disposed in Croatia. More specifically, assessment should clearly present all realistic options and compare the associated long term repository performances, demonstrating that desirable safety goals can be archived by an appropriate choice of (a) location, (b) facility design, (c) institutional control period and (d) waste acceptance criteria. As relevant national legislation is presently under review, generally recognized international safety standards, criteria and recommendations (e.g. as presented in the recent IAEA publications) should provide guidance for the assessment evaluation, since it is expected that they will be incorporated in the new national regulations. Finally, since Croatian radioactive waste management strategy is yet to be developed, such an assessment may contribute to its formulation and facilitate some specific decisions. (author)

[Croatian and international regulations on the protection and rights of workers exposed to asbestos at work].

Science.gov (United States)

Zavalić, Marija; Macan, Jelena

2009-11-01

New regulations on the protection and rights of workers occupationally exposed to asbestos were introduced in Croatia in 2007 and 2008. They have been harmonised with the European Union (EU) and International Labour Organization (ILO) regulations, and make a step forward in safety at work, health protection, social rights, and pension schemes for Croatian workers occupationally exposed to asbestos. The 2007 Croatian regulation on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work defines and describes activities in which workers can be occupationally exposed to asbestos, defines the threshold value of asbestos in the air at work, defines valid methods for measurement of asbestos concentrations in the air, and establishes measures to reduce asbestos exposure at work or protect the exposed workers. Croatian law regulating obligatory health surveillance of workers occupationally exposed to asbestos from year 2007 defines activities and competent authorities to implement health surveillance of workers occupationally exposed to asbestos and to diagnose occupational diseases related to asbestos. This law also defines "occupational exposure to asbestos", and "occupational asbestos-related diseases", including asbestosis (pulmonary asbestos-related fibrosis), pleural asbestos-related disorders (plaques, pleural thickening, and benign effusion), lung and bronchial cancer, and malignant mesothelioma of serous membranes. These regulations have been harmonised with ILO, Directive 2003/18/EC amending Council Directive 83/477/EEC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work, and with the Commission Recommendation 2003/670/EC concerning the European schedule of occupational diseases. The 2008 Croatian regulation on conditions of health surveillance, diagnostic procedures and criteria for confirmation of occupational asbestos-related diseases "defines the terms and the content of medical examination of workers

Croatian Pilgrimages to Loreto from the 5000 Documents of the "Croatian Maritime Regesta" in the 18th Century - vol. I

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Zrinka Podhraški Čizmek

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a small part of the pilgrimages undertaken by Croats during the 18th century across the Adriatic Sea to Loreto. The pilgrimages are described as a sui generis phenomenon of all human and religious societies. The history of the Catholic pilgrimage is analyzed through the perspective of common roots with Judaism and Islam, and the subsequent differentiation from other Christian confessions. Relations of the Croats with overseas territories since the 14th century are described, as well as their settlement in the hinterland of Ancona: Recanati and Loreto. The story of the Shrine of the Our Lady of Loreto is presented, the ties with the Croats settled there, and the foundation of a special seminary for Croats in 1580: the Illyrian College. During the review of the 4,890 documentary sources of volume I of the Croatian Maritime Regesta, a smaller segment of sources was found from the State Archive of Venice on the subject of pilgrimages. These sources list 44 pilgrimages from various locations on the Croatian coast. The types of ships they traveled on, the origin of the passengers, their number, organization in groups, the time of pilgrimage and the time of the year in which they occurred are analyzed. The most numerous pilgrims are from Lošinj (Lussino, followed by Cres (Cherso, Dugi Otok (Isola Lunga, Rovinj (Rovigno, Labin (Albona, Korčula (Curzola, Zadar (Zara and Vis (Lissa.This work is a contribution to the study of the links between the two sides of the Adriatic in the 18th century, which requires further publication and analysis of documentary sources.

Differentiation of car rental services in the Croatian market

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Karolina Karlo Marijanović

2010-06-01

Full Text Available A number of service companies focus on service differentiation nowadays. The companies that manage to deliver superior service are winners and may serve as an example of how the growth of services has changed business. The first part of the paper presents an analysis of the Croatian car rental services market. The theoretical part of the paper provides an insight into the characteristics of services in general, followed by an overview of the characteristics and features of the companies operating in the local market. The second part of the paper deals with the work of Porter and his three generic strategies, and with his differentiation strategy in particular. Subsequently, all possibilities of differentiation strategies that are appropriate to the car rental services are analyzed. Beside global recession, the Croatian market is currently also struggling with huge competition and companies cannot generate profit without continuous differentiation of all elements of service. In the third chapter the following hypothesis is set: By a continuous differentiation of all elements of the services marketing mix small businesses can compete with large international companies. Acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis is shown by the research conducted among users of the specific service. Its results fully confirm the set hypothesis. The fact that, despite global recession, the majority of respondents believes the survival of small- and medium-sized companies which continuously differentiate their business activities to be unquestionable is indeed encouraging.

Rapid population growth and fragile environments: the sub-Saharan African and south Asian experience.

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Caldwell, J C; Caldwell, P

1994-02-18

Case studies of the world's two poorest regions, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, were used to illustrate the compromised standard of living of the poor and environmental damage due to continued rapid population growth. The conclusion was that the livelihoods of the poor should not be endangered for preserving the living standards of richer people. Nations must not ignore the challenges of reducing population growth as fast as can be achieved. The transitional period over the next 50 years is the main concern, because population growth rates will be slowing. Rural population growth is expected to decline from 60% of total population growth in South Asia to 7% between 2000 and 2025; similarly the decline in sub-Saharan Africa would be from 50% to 15%. Over the past 30 years, food production in South Asia has kept pace with population growth. Sub-Saharan Africa has adopted food importation to meet demand. African problems are a low resource base, faster population growth, and the fact that governments and individuals are too poor to maintain soil fertility. Long-term studies of how much soil depletion will occur are not available for these regions, and local area studies are not as pessimistic. Transition policies are needed to put "people first in terms of engineered or directed population and ecological change." The six main issues are the following: 1) the Brundtland Commission appropriately identified poverty as the main cause and effect of environmental degradation because of the threat to survival; 2) the verdict is still out about whether food production will keep pace with population growth through economic growth and investment in agriculture; 3) empirical research is needed to examine local social and regulatory institutions and the possibility of reinforcing these mechanisms rather than instituting central controls; 4) central coercion or modernizing economic policies can destroy local level controls; 5) famine is a complex ecological phenomenon and the

Standing at the Gateway to Europe - The Genetic Structure of Western Balkan Populations Based on Autosomal and Haploid Markers

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Kovacevic, Lejla; Tambets, Kristiina; Ilumäe, Anne-Mai; Kushniarevich, Alena; Yunusbayev, Bayazit; Solnik, Anu; Bego, Tamer; Primorac, Dragan; Skaro, Vedrana; Leskovac, Andreja; Jakovski, Zlatko; Drobnic, Katja; Tolk, Helle-Viivi; Kovacevic, Sandra; Rudan, Pavao; Metspalu, Ene; Marjanovic, Damir

2014-01-01

Contemporary inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula belong to several ethnic groups of diverse cultural background. In this study, three ethnic groups from Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosniacs, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs - as well as the populations of Serbians, Croatians, Macedonians from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegrins and Kosovars have been characterized for the genetic variation of 660 000 genome-wide autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms and for haploid markers. New autosomal data of the 70 individuals together with previously published data of 20 individuals from the populations of the Western Balkan region in a context of 695 samples of global range have been analysed. Comparison of the variation data of autosomal and haploid lineages of the studied Western Balkan populations reveals a concordance of the data in both sets and the genetic uniformity of the studied populations, especially of Western South-Slavic speakers. The genetic variation of Western Balkan populations reveals the continuity between the Middle East and Europe via the Balkan region and supports the scenario that one of the major routes of ancient gene flows and admixture went through the Balkan Peninsula. PMID:25148043

Standing at the gateway to Europe--the genetic structure of Western balkan populations based on autosomal and haploid markers.

Science.gov (United States)

Kovacevic, Lejla; Tambets, Kristiina; Ilumäe, Anne-Mai; Kushniarevich, Alena; Yunusbayev, Bayazit; Solnik, Anu; Bego, Tamer; Primorac, Dragan; Skaro, Vedrana; Leskovac, Andreja; Jakovski, Zlatko; Drobnic, Katja; Tolk, Helle-Viivi; Kovacevic, Sandra; Rudan, Pavao; Metspalu, Ene; Marjanovic, Damir

2014-01-01

Contemporary inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula belong to several ethnic groups of diverse cultural background. In this study, three ethnic groups from Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bosniacs, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Serbs - as well as the populations of Serbians, Croatians, Macedonians from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegrins and Kosovars have been characterized for the genetic variation of 660 000 genome-wide autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms and for haploid markers. New autosomal data of the 70 individuals together with previously published data of 20 individuals from the populations of the Western Balkan region in a context of 695 samples of global range have been analysed. Comparison of the variation data of autosomal and haploid lineages of the studied Western Balkan populations reveals a concordance of the data in both sets and the genetic uniformity of the studied populations, especially of Western South-Slavic speakers. The genetic variation of Western Balkan populations reveals the continuity between the Middle East and Europe via the Balkan region and supports the scenario that one of the major routes of ancient gene flows and admixture went through the Balkan Peninsula.

The Croatian Sense of Identity among the Immigrants of Magallanes (Chile and Their Descendants during the Final Period of the Yugoslav Monarchy (1939–1945

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Mateo Martinić

2002-09-01

Full Text Available The article reviews political events which occurred in former Yugoslavia during the final period of the monarchy (1939–1945, from the perspective of Croatian emigrants in Magallanes (Chile and their descendants. In that period there were two lines of thought. One, apparently more widely held, was decidedly pro-Yugoslav and, as such, accepted the hegemony of Greater Serbia. The other, conspicuously in the minority, emphasized its Croatian identity and identified with those who, in the distant homeland, were struggling for a statute of autonomy, and for full recognition of their historical and cultural individuality. From their respective points of view, each group analyzed the news which arrived from Europe, especially those following the defeat and occupation of Yugoslavia by the German forces (1941 and the subsequent creation of the Independent Croatian State. From then onward, the article presents and assesses the corresponding demonstrations of opinion which, following the evolution of events showed the predominance of the pro-Yugoslavs and, within that tendency, the supporters of the partisan leader Tito. Explicitly or tacitly, the Chilean-Croatian community of Magallanes was notably pro-Yugoslav for the next half-century. Nonetheless, the determined spirit of Croatian patriotism was kept alive by a few, bursting forth with renewed vigour when Croatia obtained its independence in 1991.

Population genetics of Thamnaconus hypargyreus (Tetraodontiformes: Monacanthidae) in the South China Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yufang; Chen, Guobao; Yu, Jie; Wu, Shuiqing; Xiong, Dan; Li, Xia; Cui, Ke; Li, Yongzhen

2016-01-01

Knowledge of population structure is particularly important for long-term fisheries management and conservation. Lesser-spotted leatherjacket Thamnaconus hypargyreus is an economically important fish species in the South China Sea. Fish specimens (totally 158 individuals) used in this study were collected from five geographical locations in the north of the South China Sea and the southwestern Nansha Islands. The results were as follows: a total of 636 nucleotides of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (CR) of T. hypargyreus were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. Both 103 mutations of nucleotide acids without inserting or deleting one and 91 haplotypes were found among the examined CR fragment. High haplotype diversity (0.9419 ± 0.0151) and nucleotide diversity (0.0095 ± 0.00506) relatively together with a recent and sudden population expansion which characterizes the genetic population structure of this species. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and the fixation indices (Fst) of five groups showed that the genetic variance mainly came from individuals within groups, and there was no genetic differentiation between groups. The phylogenetic trees including maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) proved no phylogeographic differentiation structure in five groups. The mtDNA marker suggested the five groups should be genetic homogeneity, which implied T. hypargyreus in the north and southwest continental shelf of the South China Sea belongs to one population.

Tapering Practices of Croatian Open-Class Powerlifting Champions.

Science.gov (United States)

Grgic, Jozo; Mikulic, Pavle

2017-09-01

Grgic, J and Mikulic, P. Tapering practices of Croatian open-class powerlifting champions. J Strength Cond Res 31(9): 2371-2378, 2017-The aim of this study was to explore tapering practices among 10 Croatian open-class powerlifting champions (mean ± SD: age 29.2 ± 3.2 years; Wilks coefficient 355.1 ± 54.8). The athletes were interviewed about their tapering practices using a semi-structured interview after which the audio content was transcribed. The athletes reported decreasing training volume during the taper by 50.5 ± 11.7% using a step type or an exponential type of taper with a fast decay. Training intensity was maintained or increased during the taper, and it reached its highest values 8 ± 3 days before the competition. Training frequency was reduced or maintained during the taper. The final week included a reduction in training frequency by 47.9 ± 17.5% with the last training session performed 3 ± 1 days before the competition. The participants typically stated that the main reasons for conducting the taper were maintaining strength and reducing the amount of fatigue. They also stated that (a) the taper was structured identically for the squat, bench press, and the deadlift; (b) the training during the taper was highly specific, the assistance exercises were removed, and the same equipment was used as during competition; (c) the source of information for tapering was their coach, and training fluctuated based on the coach's feedback; and (d) nutrition, foam rolling, static stretching, and massage were all given extra attention during the taper. These results may aid athletes and coaches in strength sports in terms of the optimization of tapering variables.

Proceedings of 11th Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radolic, V.; Poje Sovilj, M.; Krajcar Bronic, I.

2017-01-01

The 11th symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association discussed the following topics: ethics and culture in radiation protection; general topics; radiation protection and dosimetry in medicine; biological effects of radiation; instrumentation and measuring techniques; radioecology; public exposure; radon; non-ionising radiation. For each subject many investigations, experiments, examples and results are presented. International character of this symposium shows importance of these topics not only in region but world wide.

Tax expenditures and the efficiency of Croatian value added tax

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Petar Sopek

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this paper is to provide a systematic overview of value added taxation in Croatia along with main changes in relevant legislation and to estimate total amount of tax expenditures. Results show that the proportion of tax expenditures in GDP in Croatia in 2010 amounted to less than 4%, a proportion lower than in any of the EU new member states, as well as almost twice as low as the EU-27 average. It can be concluded that the Croatian value added taxation system is efficient in this way, as was additionally shown by an analysis according to which Croatia in 2010 had better efficiency indicators than all the observed EU member states. The Croatian VAT system is mainly harmonized with EU directives, but abolition of the zero rate is still expected; this will increase government revenue by approximately 0.4-0.8% of GDP, depending on a chosen scenario. It has been suggested that a detailed analysis of the overall value added taxation system should be initiated, with the aim of optimizing cost-benefits. The main focus should be placed on the determination of the optimal VAT registration threshold, the costs and benefits of the introduced reliefs and exemptions in the tax system and the potential effects of the repeal of the zero rate.

Serious diabetes-specific emotional problems and depression in a Croatian-Dutch-English Survey from the European Depression in Diabetes [EDID] Research Consortium

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pouwer, Francois; Skinner, Timothy Chas; Pibernik-Okanovic, Mirjana

2005-01-01

for Epidemiological Studies Depression and the Problem Areas in Diabetes scales. Percentages of patients with high depression scores were: 39 and 34% (Croatian men and women), 19 and 21% (Dutch men and women), 19 and 39% (English men and women). Moreover, 79% (Croatian), 47% (Dutch) and 41% (English) of the patients......It has been hypothesized that coverage of diabetes-specific issues (e.g. coping with complications, incapacity, pain) during psychotherapy may optimize the likelihood of treatment success for depression in patients with diabetes. However, it is still unclear how often depression is confounded...... by diabetes-specific emotional problems. We aim to determine the levels of diabetes-specific emotional problems in diabetic individuals with high versus low levels of depression in a sample of 539 outpatients with diabetes (202 Dutch, 185 Croatian and 152 English). Subjects completed the Center...

Slovene tourists in the Croatian littoral – characteristics and spatial pattern of tourist traffic and internet tourism offer

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Simon Kerma

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The Croatian Littoral has been the most important tourist destination for tourists from Slovenia for decades. The coastal areas of Istria, Kvarner, and Dalmatia, including the Adriatic islands, became widely popular among Slovenes in the period of intense tourism development in the once common state of Yugoslavia. Today Croatia is the destination of as many as 60% of all private trips from Slovenia. In the introduction the affinity of Slovene tourists for travel abroad is supplemented with statistical data on their visits to the Republic of Croatia. In the next sections special emphasis is placed on the number of Slovene tourists and overnight stays, their average length of stay and spatial distribution in the Croatian Littoral in 2007. These data are then compared to those from 1999. The central section of the article consists of a detailed analysis of the content of the internet tourism offer of Slovene travel agencies as presented on their websites. The objects of the analysis were the structure of advertised destinations in the Croatian Littoral across counties and the structure of offer by type of tourist services (summer vacation, travelling/trip, cruising.

Slovene tourists in the Croatian littoral – characteristics and spatial pattern of tourist traffic and internet tourism offer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Staša Salmič

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The Croatian Littoral has been the most important tourist destination for tourists from Slovenia for decades. The coastal areas of Istria, Kvarner, and Dalmatia, including the Adriatic islands, became widely popular among Slovenes in the period of intense tourism development in the once common state of Yugoslavia. Today Croatia is the destination of as many as 60% of all private trips from Slovenia. In the introduction the affinity of Slovene tourists for travel abroad is supplemented with statistical data on their visits to the Republic of Croatia. In the next sections special emphasis is placed on the number of Slovene tourists and overnight stays, their average length of stay and spatial distribution in the Croatian Littoral in 2007. These data are then compared to those from 1999. The central section of the article consists of a detailed analysis of the content of the internet tourism offer of Slovene travel agencies as presented on their websites. The objects of the analysis were the structure of advertised destinations in the Croatian Littoral across counties and the structure of offer by type of tourist services (summer vacation, travelling/trip, cruising.

A Panel of Ancestry Informative Markers for the Complex Five-Way Admixed South African Coloured Population

Science.gov (United States)

Daya, Michelle; van der Merwe, Lize; Galal, Ushma; Möller, Marlo; Salie, Muneeb; Chimusa, Emile R.; Galanter, Joshua M.; van Helden, Paul D.; Henn, Brenna M.; Gignoux, Chris R.; Hoal, Eileen

2013-01-01

Admixture is a well known confounder in genetic association studies. If genome-wide data is not available, as would be the case for candidate gene studies, ancestry informative markers (AIMs) are required in order to adjust for admixture. The predominant population group in the Western Cape, South Africa, is the admixed group known as the South African Coloured (SAC). A small set of AIMs that is optimized to distinguish between the five source populations of this population (African San, African non-San, European, South Asian, and East Asian) will enable researchers to cost-effectively reduce false-positive findings resulting from ignoring admixture in genetic association studies of the population. Using genome-wide data to find SNPs with large allele frequency differences between the source populations of the SAC, as quantified by Rosenberg et. al's -statistic, we developed a panel of AIMs by experimenting with various selection strategies. Subsets of different sizes were evaluated by measuring the correlation between ancestry proportions estimated by each AIM subset with ancestry proportions estimated using genome-wide data. We show that a panel of 96 AIMs can be used to assess ancestry proportions and to adjust for the confounding effect of the complex five-way admixture that occurred in the South African Coloured population. PMID:24376522

Political Education in Croatian Secondary Schools: An Emergency Reaction to a Chaotic Context

Science.gov (United States)

Doolan, Karin; Domazet, Mladen

2007-01-01

The article draws on an analysis exploring how the content and aims of secondary school political education have been framed in official Croatian policy documents following the country's war for independence, with particular focus on the underlying conception of citizenship promoted in such a post-conflict setting. The article also addresses how…

The role of JANAF oil pipeline in the efficiency increase and Croatian Energy system's globalisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sekulic, G.; Diminic, V.; Baranovic, K.; Rukavina, K.

1999-01-01

In the past 20 years of its operation, JANAF has contributed not only to the domestic refineries' costs decrease and the improvement of their efficiency but also to the internationalisation of the Croatian energy system and its globalisation. The implementation of new JANAF development projects in co-operation with international companies would intensity the JANAF connection to the European oil pipeline network and improve the oil supply safety of domestic refineries. New projects would at the same time enable oil export from Russia and other FSU states to the international oil market, such as oil transport from the INA oil fields in Russia. The JANAF development projects would help evaluate the existing capacities and infrastructure in terms of quality. They would be realised according to the principles of Energy Charter Treaty, the new Croatian energy system legislation and Energy Strategy. (author)

Impacts of biodiesel production on Croatian economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulisic, Biljana; Loizou, Efstratios; Rozakis, Stelios; Segon, Velimir

2007-01-01

The aim of this paper is to assess the direct and indirect impacts on a national economy from biodiesel (rapeseed methyl ester (RME)) production using input-output (I-O) analysis. Biodiesel development in Croatia is used as a case study. For Croatia, as for many other countries in Europe, biodiesel is a new activity not included in the existing I-O sectoral accounts. For this reason the I-O table has to be modified accordingly before being able to quantify the effect of an exogenous demand for biodiesel. Impacts in terms of output, income and employment lead to the conclusion that biodiesel production could have significant positive net impact on the Croatian economy despite the high level of subsidies for rapeseed growing

Description of the Friesian Horse population of South Africa and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Data obtained from the Friesian Horse Studbook of Southern Africa and Friesian Horse Breeders\\' Society of South Africa were analyzed to describe and evaluate the population regarding inbreeding and morphological body measurements. Eight different body measurements (height at withers, height of back, height of ...

Environmental challenges for the sustainable development in the Croatian North Adriatic littoral region = Okoljski izzivi trajnostnega razvoja v hrvaškem delu Severnega Jadrana

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Mladen Maradin

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents some geographical aspects of sustainable development in a part of theNorth Adriatic region in the Republic of Croatia. This sensitive region is confronted withproblems of space management, water supply, waste management, transportation and energy,especially during the tourist season because of the pressure on infrastructure in the coastalregion where there is a great concentration of population and tourist capacities. Anotherenvironmental problem is the oil transportation by a pipeline which is planned to be built inthe frames of Russian-Croatian project Družba-Adria.

Rate of inbreeding and effective population size in four major South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

huis

Keywords: Dairy cattle, genetic diversity, pedigree analysis ... inbreeding and effective population sizes for the four major South African ... breeding programs and therefore L was computed as an average of generation intervals for the four.

Domoic Acid - A New Toxin in the Croatian Adriatic Shellfish Toxin Profile

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Ivona Marasović

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This is the first study that presents concentrations of domoic acid detected in the whole shellfish tissue from breeding and harvesting areas along the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea during the period 2006 to 2008. Shellfish sample analyses after SAX cleaning procedures, using a UV-DAD-HPLC system, showed the presence of domoic acid in four species. The most prevalent of those species were the blue mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis, followed by European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis, Mediterranean scallop (Pecten jacobaeus and proteus scallop (Flexopecten proteus. Domoic acid, a potentially lethal phycotoxin that causes amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP, was detected for the first time in January 2006 with the highest value of 6.5486 μg g-1 in whole shellfish tissue. Pseudo-nitzschia spp. bloom events preceded these high domoic acid concentrations. According to this study, retention of domoic acid in the blue mussel M. galloprovincialis is more than 42 days. This investigation indicates the first presence of domoic acid in Croatian shellfish, but in concentrations under the regulatory limit (20 μg g-1, therefore shellfish consumption was not found to endanger human health.

Distinct genomic architecture of Plasmodium falciparum populations from South Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Shiva; Mudeppa, Devaraja G; Sharma, Ambika; Mascarenhas, Anjali; Dash, Rashmi; Pereira, Ligia; Shaik, Riaz Basha; Maki, Jennifer N; White, John; Zuo, Wenyun; Tuljapurkar, Shripad; Duraisingh, Manoj T; Gomes, Edwin; Chery, Laura; Rathod, Pradipsinh K

Previous whole genome comparisons of Plasmodium falciparum populations have not included collections from the Indian subcontinent, even though two million Indians contract malaria and about 50,000 die from the disease every year. Stratification of global parasites has revealed spatial relatedness of parasite genotypes on different continents. Here, genomic analysis was further improved to obtain country-level resolution by removing var genes and intergenic regions from distance calculations. P. falciparum genomes from India were found to be most closely related to each other. Their nearest neighbors were from Bangladesh and Myanmar, followed by Thailand. Samples from the rest of Southeast Asia, Africa and South America were increasingly more distant, demonstrating a high-resolution genomic-geographic continuum. Such genome stratification approaches will help monitor variations of malaria parasites within South Asia and future changes in parasite populations that may arise from in-country and cross-border migrations. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Seroepidemiological Study of Epstein-Barr Virus in Different Population Groups in Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Beader, Nataša; Kolarić, Branko; Slačanac, Domagoj; Tabain, Irena; Vilibić-Čavlek, Tatjana

2018-02-01

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is one of the most common viruses found in humans, causing lifelong infection in up to 95% of the world population. To analyze the seroprevalence of EBV infection in different population groups in Croatia. During a 2 year period (2015-2016), a total of 2022 consecutive serum samples collected from Croatian residents were tested for the presence of EBV-specific viral capsid antigen (VCA) immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunoassay. IgM/IgG-positive samples were further tested for IgG avidity. The overall prevalence of EBV IgG antibodies was 91.4%. Females had significantly higher IgG seroprevalence than males (93.1% vs. 89.9%, P = 0.008). According to age, IgG seropositivity increased progressively from 59.6% in children age 40. All IgM positive participants > 40 years showed high IgG avidity. Logistic regression showed that age is associated with EBV IgG seropositivity. EBV is widespread in the Croatian population. Older age appears to be the main risk factor for EBV seropositivity.

The Importance of Acquiring Pedagogical and Didactic Competencies of Future Teachers--The Croatian Context

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Dubovicki, Snježana; Jukic, Renata

2017-01-01

This paper emphasizes the importance of developing pedagogical and didactic competencies of graduate students of teachers' education, and certain problems they encountered in acquiring those competencies in the Croatian environment. The goal of the research was to examine the students' (future teachers') assessments of the capability to work with…

The history of Croatian Trauma Society - a brief overview.

Science.gov (United States)

Bakota, B; Vlahovic, T; Staresinic, M; Dobric, I; Civaric, T

2013-09-01

Croatian Trauma Society (CTS) has a 51 year of history and tradition. This article represents a brief overview from the times when it was founded, June 30, 1961, until the present time. It tells us about the idea how, where and when the "Section for Traumatology" was founded, its activities and influence not only to promote patient trauma care but initiation of other societies dealing with traumatized patients as well, including the evolution of the CTS itself. The authors thank to all the contributors that made this article possible. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Successful competitive strategies of large Croatian and Slovenian enterprises

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Marin Buble

2003-01-01

Full Text Available In this research report, the authors identify and analyze the successful samples of strategic behaviour of large Croatian and Slovenian enterprises, as well as their similarities and dissimilarities. The research has encompassed the levels of corporate and business strategy (i.e. the strategy of a diversified firm and its strategic business units/areas, as well as the analysis of strategic performance and sources of competitive advantage. The research consists of two parts: the theoretical foundation for the analysis of the successful patterns of strategic behaviour and the empirical analysis, based on the primary data collected during the research project.

Crash and rebound of indigenous populations in lowland South America

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Marcus J.; Walker, Robert S.; Kesler, Dylan C.

2014-04-01

Lowland South America has long been a battle-ground between European colonization and indigenous survival. Initial waves of European colonization brought disease epidemics, slavery, and violence that had catastrophic impacts on indigenous cultures. In this paper we focus on the demography of 238 surviving populations in Brazil. We use longitudinal censuses from all known indigenous Brazilian societies to quantify three demographic metrics: 1) effects of European contact on indigenous populations; 2) empirical estimates of minimum viable population sizes; and 3) estimates of post-contact population growth rates. We use this information to conduct population viability analysis (PVA). Our results show that all surviving populations suffered extensive mortality during, and shortly after, contact. However, most surviving populations exhibit positive growth rates within the first decade post-contact. Our findings paint a positive demographic outlook for these indigenous populations, though long-term survival remains subject to powerful externalities, including politics, economics, and the pervasive illegal exploitation of indigenous lands.

Lack of Population Structure and Mixed Reproduction Modes in Exserohilum turcicum from South Africa.

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Human, Maria Petronella; Barnes, Irene; Craven, Maryke; Crampton, Bridget Genevieve

2016-11-01

Exserohilum turcicum is the causal agent of northern corn leaf blight, a destructive foliar disease of maize that results in yield losses worldwide. In South Africa, typical yield losses range from 15 to 30%. Previous studies found high haplotypic diversity with evidence for sexual recombination in E. turcicum populations from tropical climates such as Kenya. However, the population genetic structure and method of reproduction of E. turcicum in South Africa is unknown and, therefore, was investigated. Twelve polymorphic microsatellite markers were screened on 258 E. turcicum isolates from maize collected during 2012 and 2013 from three maize fields in South Africa. A multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay amplifying both mating type idiomorphs was applied to investigate the distribution of mating types. No distinct genetic clusters were observed. Shared haplotypes were identified between isolates separated by distances of up to 762 km, which provided evidence of migration. High haplotypic diversity indicated that sexual reproduction is occurring among E. turcicum isolates, although mating type ratios and linkage disequilibrium analyses did not support the hypothesis of random mating. The population genetic structure of E. turcicum in South Africa is likely due to the direct movement and spread of isolates undergoing a mixed reproductive lifecycle.

Reliability of CKD-EPI predictive equation in estimating chronic kidney disease prevalence in the Croatian endemic nephropathy area.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuček, Mirjana; Dika, Živka; Karanović, Sandra; Vuković Brinar, Ivana; Premužić, Vedran; Kos, Jelena; Cvitković, Ante; Mišić, Maja; Samardžić, Josip; Rogić, Dunja; Jelaković, Bojan

2018-02-15

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant public health problem and it is not possible to precisely predict its progression to terminal renal failure. According to current guidelines, CKD stages are classified based on the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria. Aims of this study were to determine the reliability of predictive equation in estimation of CKD prevalence in Croatian areas with endemic nephropathy (EN), compare the results with non-endemic areas, and to determine if the prevalence of CKD stages 3-5 was increased in subjects with EN. A total of 1573 inhabitants of the Croatian Posavina rural area from 6 endemic and 3 non-endemic villages were enrolled. Participants were classified according to the modified criteria of the World Health Organization for EN. Estimated GFR was calculated using Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equation (CKD-EPI). The results showed a very high CKD prevalence in the Croatian rural area (19%). CKD prevalence was significantly higher in EN then in non EN villages with the lowest eGFR value in diseased subgroup. eGFR correlated significantly with the diagnosis of EN. Kidney function assessment using CKD-EPI predictive equation proved to be a good marker in differentiating the study subgroups, remained as one of the diagnostic criteria for EN.

Role of sport and recreation in the development of Croatian tourism

OpenAIRE

Bartoluci, Mato

1995-01-01

Tourism in Croatia is on the turning point of its development. War devastation in Croatia negatively affected tourism. The process of restoration of Croatian tourism should not only renovate the ruined tourist facilities, but it should also overcome the disadvantages of the past development of tourism. One of the important factors of the variety and quality of tourist offer are sports-recreational activities and programmes which provide the possibility of active rest and recreation. In Cro...

The promise of discovering population-specific disease-associated genes in South Asia.

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Nakatsuka, Nathan; Moorjani, Priya; Rai, Niraj; Sarkar, Biswanath; Tandon, Arti; Patterson, Nick; Bhavani, Gandham SriLakshmi; Girisha, Katta Mohan; Mustak, Mohammed S; Srinivasan, Sudha; Kaushik, Amit; Vahab, Saadi Abdul; Jagadeesh, Sujatha M; Satyamoorthy, Kapaettu; Singh, Lalji; Reich, David; Thangaraj, Kumarasamy

2017-09-01

The more than 1.5 billion people who live in South Asia are correctly viewed not as a single large population but as many small endogamous groups. We assembled genome-wide data from over 2,800 individuals from over 260 distinct South Asian groups. We identified 81 unique groups, 14 of which had estimated census sizes of more than 1 million, that descend from founder events more extreme than those in Ashkenazi Jews and Finns, both of which have high rates of recessive disease due to founder events. We identified multiple examples of recessive diseases in South Asia that are the result of such founder events. This study highlights an underappreciated opportunity for decreasing disease burden among South Asians through discovery of and testing for recessive disease-associated genes.

Croatian Cadastre Database Modelling

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Zvonko Biljecki

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The Cadastral Data Model has been developed as a part of a larger programme to improve products and production environment of the Croatian Cadastral Service of the State Geodetic Administration (SGA. The goal of the project was to create a cadastral data model conforming to relevant standards and specifications in the field of geoinformation (GI adapted by international organisations for standardisation under the competence of GI (ISO TC211 and OpenGIS and it implementations.The main guidelines during the project have been object-oriented conceptual modelling of the updated users' requests and a "new" cadastral data model designed by SGA - Faculty of Geodesy - Geofoto LLC project team. The UML of the conceptual model is given per all feature categories and is described only at class level. The next step was the UML technical model, which was developed from the UML conceptual model. The technical model integrates different UML schemas in one united schema.XML (eXtensible Markup Language was applied for XML description of UML models, and then the XML schema was transferred into GML (Geography Markup Language application schema. With this procedure we have completely described the behaviour of each cadastral feature and rules for the transfer and storage of cadastral features into the database.

The transformation of the countryside at the Slovene-Croatian border

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Marko Koščak

2002-12-01

Full Text Available The transformation of the rural areas along the Slovene - Croatian border was influenced by many reasons, among which the most important was polycentric concept of social demogarphy as well as physical development. After introduction of a border line between Slovenia and Croatia the process of transformation of rural areas have taken on additional issues connected to the problems of border areas and marginal regions and thus are both specific and new for this region. Transformation of rural areas is a permanent process,that affects both the landscape, as well as its functions.

The association of ABO blood groups with extent of coronary atherosclerosis in Croatian patients suffering from chronic coronary artery disease.

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Karabuva, Svjetlana; Carević, Vedran; Radić, Mislav; Fabijanić, Damir

2013-01-01

The aim of study was to: 1) examine the relationship between ABO blood groups and extent of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with chronic coronary artery disease (CAD), 2) compare ABO blood groups distribution in CAD patients and general population, 3) examine possible differences in traditional risk factors frequency in CAD patients with different ABO blood groups. In the 646 chronic CAD patients (72.4% males) coronary angiograms were scored by quantitative assessment using multiple angiographic scoring system, Traditional risk factors were self reported or measured by standard methods. ABO blood distribution of patients was compared with group of 651 healthy blood donors (74.6% males). Among all ABO blood group patients there was no significant difference between the extent of coronary atherosclerosis with regard to all the three scoring systems: number of affected coronary arteries (P = 0.857), Gensini score (P = 0.818), and number of segments narrowed > 50% (P = 0.781). There was no significant difference in ABO blood group distribution between CAD patients and healthy blood donors. Among CAD patients, men with blood group AB were significantly younger than their pairs with non-AB blood groups (P = 0.008). Among CAD patients with AB blood group, males groups (P = 0.003). No association between ABO blood groups and the extent of coronary atherosclerosis in Croatian CAD patients is observed. Observation that AB blood group might possibly identify Croatian males at risk to develop the premature CAD has to be tested in larger cohort of patients.

The analysis of the population economic activity and unemployment in the South Moravian region

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Jaroslava Hudečková

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This article deals with analysis of the South Moravian region population economic activity and unemployment state and development. The analysis of the population economic activity and unemployment is a part of the demographic, social and economic population analysis. The unemployment is considered to be an unfavourable effect, but its low rate is a natural part of the market economy. The unemployment was from the general and registered unemployment rate in years 1995–2003 point of view evaluated. Some indicators of the South Moravian region were with the whole Czech Republic compared. The unemployment in the South Moravian region marked a negative development in mentioned period and in the year 2003 achieved value of 11.45%. The trend of the unemployment development was defined and also the seasonal character with the seasonal indexes was analysed. The highest unemployment was proved in winter months (January–March and least in May and June. There was proved the high dependency rate among the number of vacancies, the number of applicants for one vacancy and unemployment rate.

Distance Factors and Croatian Export Obstacles in the EU15: CAGE Approach

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Helena Miloloža

2015-07-01

Full Text Available For long-term sustainability of any enterprise, it is required to observe each market separately and systematically modify business approach to prevailing conditions in each. However, adaptation to each market can be a complex affair that requires certain financial costs but ignoring distinguishing criteria leads to reduction in revenues and undermines long-term profitability. Time saving and cost-effectiveness can be achieved by application of The CAGE Distance Framework – a model that analysis all diversities between two or more countries. Croatia did not yet utilize the benefits that European Union membership provides nor did significantly improved its international business. It is obvious that Croatia faces difficulties in the strategic approach to prospective foreign markets. Therefore, emphasis of this article is on analysis and identification of the distinguishing factors between Croatia and the EU15 in order to facilitate and enhance cooperation among them in the future. Throughout the analysis of Croatian export from the beginning of the economic crisis, this article gives an overview of international collaboration among Croatia and the EU15 and comparative analysis by using The CAGE Distance Framework. This analysis has confirmed significant fluctuations, unexploited potential and problems of the Croatian economy in all dimensions of The CAGE model.

An Investigation of Marketing via Mobile Devices - Attitudes of Croatian Marketing Experts

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Damir Dobrinić

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Marketing activities supported by mobile devices offer great opportunities for direct communication with consumers without the barriers of time, place, location and other. This article explores opinions and expectations Croatian marketing experts have towards use of m-advertising and other available advertising media, where we take the perspective of marketing experts to predict the future of m-marketing and m-advertising in Croatia. The paper also discusses the relevance of m-advertising and investigates the future of m-marketing and m-advertising in Croatia. This research focuses mainly on understanding the potential and effectiveness of the use of mobile phones as a promotional medium, but we also try to recognize the level of concern of marketing experts associated with spam, relating to privacy intrusion and ethics components in m-advertising. Privacy and ethics concerns could create resistance to the adoption of m-advertising. Media selection becomes the most critical factor for the success of a promotional and advertising marketing campaign. Croatian experts still consider TV or newspapers the best way to reach a large number of potential consumers, but what are their expectations towards mobile advertising? To answer this question, we built a model that links attitudes towards advertising via classical media to the intention to use m-advertising.

POSSIBILITY OF BENEFICIATION OF SILICA SAND FROM THE CROATIAN DEPOSITS USING ATTRITION SCRUBBING

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Ivan Sobota

2011-12-01

Full Text Available To meet high quality requirements defined for specific industrial applications, the raw sand often has to be subjected to extensive physical and chemical processing. The possibility of achieving silica sand concentrate of required quality depends mostly on raw sand properties, primarily mineral impurity types and contents, and features of applied beneficiation methods. When the impurities occur in the form of oxide coatings on the surfaces of the single sand grains, attriton scrubbing is applied. By reducing the proportion of oxide coatings on the grains, the quality of sand can be improved. With the aim to determine the possibilities of the beneficiation of silica sand from significant Croatian deposits (“Vrtlinska”, “Štefanac” and “Španovica” and achieve concentrate grade complying with the requirements of domestic industry, laboratory tests were conducted on three raw sand samples with different SiO2 and impurity contents. Grain size distribution, chemical and mineral composition of raw sand samples, and the possibility of their quality improvement by applying the washing, classification and attrition scrubbing were defined by analysis of test results (the paper is published in Croatian.

Population health status of South Asian and African-Caribbean communities in the United Kingdom.

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Calvert, Melanie; Duffy, Helen; Freemantle, Nick; Davis, Russell; Lip, Gregory Y H; Gill, Paramjit

2012-04-25

Population health status scores are routinely used to inform economic evaluation and evaluate the impact of disease and/or treatment on health. It is unclear whether the health status in black and minority ethnic groups are comparable to these population health status data. The aim of this study was to evaluate health-status in South Asian and African-Caribbean populations. Cross-sectional study recruiting participants aged ≥ 45 years (September 2006 to July 2009) from 20 primary care centres in Birmingham, United Kingdom.10,902 eligible subjects were invited, 5,408 participated (49.6%). 5,354 participants had complete data (49.1%) (3442 South Asian and 1912 African-Caribbean). Health status was assessed by interview using the EuroQoL EQ-5D. The mean EQ-5D score in South Asian participants was 0.91 (standard deviation (SD) 0.18), median score 1 (interquartile range (IQR) 0.848 to 1) and in African-Caribbean participants the mean score was 0.92 (SD 0.18), median 1 (IQR 1 to 1). Compared with normative data from the UK general population, substantially fewer African-Caribbean and South Asian participants reported problems with mobility, usual activities, pain and anxiety when stratified by age resulting in higher average health status estimates than those from the UK population. Multivariable modelling showed that decreased health-related quality of life (HRQL) was associated with increased age, female gender and increased body mass index. A medical history of depression, stroke/transient ischemic attack, heart failure and arthritis were associated with substantial reductions in HRQL. The reported HRQL of these minority ethnic groups was substantially higher than anticipated compared to UK normative data. Participants with chronic disease experienced significant reductions in HRQL and should be a target for health intervention.

Population health status of South Asian and African-Caribbean communities in the United Kingdom

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Calvert Melanie

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Population health status scores are routinely used to inform economic evaluation and evaluate the impact of disease and/or treatment on health. It is unclear whether the health status in black and minority ethnic groups are comparable to these population health status data. The aim of this study was to evaluate health-status in South Asian and African-Caribbean populations. Methods Cross-sectional study recruiting participants aged ≥ 45 years (September 2006 to July 2009 from 20 primary care centres in Birmingham, United Kingdom.10,902 eligible subjects were invited, 5,408 participated (49.6%. 5,354 participants had complete data (49.1% (3442 South Asian and 1912 African-Caribbean. Health status was assessed by interview using the EuroQoL EQ-5D. Results The mean EQ-5D score in South Asian participants was 0.91 (standard deviation (SD 0.18, median score 1 (interquartile range (IQR 0.848 to 1 and in African-Caribbean participants the mean score was 0.92 (SD 0.18, median 1 (IQR 1 to 1. Compared with normative data from the UK general population, substantially fewer African-Caribbean and South Asian participants reported problems with mobility, usual activities, pain and anxiety when stratified by age resulting in higher average health status estimates than those from the UK population. Multivariable modelling showed that decreased health-related quality of life (HRQL was associated with increased age, female gender and increased body mass index. A medical history of depression, stroke/transient ischemic attack, heart failure and arthritis were associated with substantial reductions in HRQL. Conclusions The reported HRQL of these minority ethnic groups was substantially higher than anticipated compared to UK normative data. Participants with chronic disease experienced significant reductions in HRQL and should be a target for health intervention.

Legal Status of the Catholic Church as an Economic Entity in EU and Croatian Law

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Tomislav Sokol

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Regulation of the Catholic Church’s legal status in the European Union primarily falls within the competences of the Member States. The Croatian legal framework in this respect consists of various types of legal rules, most important of which is the set of international agreements entered into between the Republic of Croatia and the Holy See. Still, EU competition, state aid and free movement rules affect this legal framework to a significant degree. The aim of this paper is to analyse the applicability of the said EU rules to the activities of the Catholic Church in Croatia, that is to determine whether the Catholic Church can be considered an undertaking conducting an economic activity (and to what degree according to the said legal framework, whether the Croatian national legal framework is aligned with the EU rules, and whether there are points of contention in this area which need to be legally rectified. The second part of this paper analyses the European Union state aid and free movement legal framework, primarily trying to determine whether the Catholic Church is an undertaking carrying out an economic activity as prescribed by EU law. In this analysis, several issues emerge which have not been clearly resolved by the Court of Justice. The following part features an outline of the Croatian national legal framework on the legal status of the Catholic Church, focusing on potential points of contention between the national and the EU law. Finally, certain solutions to the mentioned issues are proposed, on the European and the national level, in accordance with legal certainty as the general principle of (EU law.

An Investigation of Marketing via Mobile Devices - Attitudes of Croatian Marketing Experts

OpenAIRE

Dobrinić, Damir; Dvorski, Stjepan; Bosilj, Neven

2008-01-01

Marketing activities supported by mobile devices offer great opportunities for direct communication with consumers without the barriers of time, place, location and other. This article explores opinions and expectations Croatian marketing experts have towards use of m-advertising and other available advertising media, where we take the perspective of marketing experts to predict the future of m-marketing and m-advertising in Croatia. The paper also discusses the relevance of m-advertising and...

Analysis of genetic and cultural conservation value of three indigenous Croatian cattle breeds in a local and global context.

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Ramljak, J; Ivanković, A; Veit-Kensch, C E; Förster, M; Medugorac, I

2011-02-01

It is widely accepted that autochthonous cattle breeds can be important genetic resources for unforeseeable environmental conditions in the future. Apart from that, they often represent local culture and tradition and thus assist in the awareness of ethnic identity of a country. In Croatia, there are only three indigenous cattle breeds, Croatian Buša, Slavonian Syrmian Podolian and Istrian Cattle. All of them are threatened but specialized in a particular habitat and production system. We analysed 93 microsatellites in 51 animals of each breed to get thorough information about genetic diversity and population structure. We further set them within an existing frame of additional 16 breeds that have been genotyped for the same marker set and cover a geographical area from the domestication centre near Anatolia, through the Balkan and alpine regions, to the north-west of Europe. The cultural value was evaluated regarding the role in landscape, gastronomy, folklore and handicraft. The overall results recognize Croatian Buša being partly admixed but harbouring an enormous genetic diversity comparable with other traditional unselected Buša breeds in the Anatolian and Balkan areas. The Podolian cattle showed the lowest genetic diversity at the highest genetic distance to all remaining breeds but are playing an important role as part of the cultural landscape and thus contribute to the tourist industry. The genetic diversity of the Istrian cattle was found in the middle range of this study. It is already included in the tourist industry as a local food speciality. Current and future conservation strategies are discussed. © 2010 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Tourist Assessment of Croatian Roads

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Joso Vurdelja

2012-10-01

Full Text Available As environmentally clean industry and as the most significantworld industry regarding the number of employees and theimpact on the social and economic development of a countTy,tourism represents an extremely important social and economicbranch for Croatia.As a functional unit of the mutually interweaving socialand economic relations, tourism is a complex phenomenonwhose development depends on a number of compatible factorsout of which the transport infrastructure is considered to bethe most obvious and almost the most significant one, i.e. thefirst among the equal. This is primarily true for road traffic infrastructure,since road trai!Sportation of tourists by passengercars, buses and motorcycles accounts for more than 90 percentof the overall tourist journeys in Croatia.The topic of this paper is precisely, among other things, thetourist assessment of the Croatian road network by means ofthe so-called econometric model regarding the contribution ofa certain road route to the overall tourist traffic.Practical implementation of the elaborated problematicshould result in the improvement of road infrastructure eitherby constructing new motonvays and/or roads, or by reconstructionand/or modernisation of the existing traffic routes.

Proceedings of the Third symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

The Third Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association (20-22 Nov 1996) coorganized by Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health and 'Rudjer Boskovic' Institute, with the support of Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Croatia, Hazardous Waste Management Agency Ltd., Ecotec Ltd. and Tourist Association of the City of Zagreb, covered a vast range of subjects concerning radiation protection, management of industrial and medical radioactive wastes, environmental transport of radionuclides, dosimetric methods and equipment, contamination and decontamination etc. 57 contributions were delivered

Allele and Genotype Distributions of DNA Repair Gene Polymorphisms in South Indian Healthy Population

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Katiboina Srinivasa Rao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Various DNA repair pathways protect the structural and chemical integrity of the human genome from environmental and endogenous threats. Polymorphisms of genes encoding the proteins involved in DNA repair have been found to be associated with cancer risk and chemotherapeutic response. In this study, we aim to establish the normative frequencies of DNA repair genes in South Indian healthy population and compare with HapMap populations. Genotyping was done on 128 healthy volunteers from South India, and the allele and genotype distributions were established. The minor allele frequency of Xeroderma pigmentosum group A ( XPA G23A, Excision repair cross-complementing 2 ( ERCC2 /Xeroderma pigmentosum group D ( XPD Lys751Gln, Xeroderma pigmentosum group G ( XPG His46His, XPG Asp1104His, and X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 ( XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphisms were 49.2%, 36.3%, 48.0%, 23.0%, and 34.0% respectively. Ethnic variations were observed in the frequency distribution of these polymorphisms between the South Indians and other HapMap populations. The present work forms the groundwork for cancer association studies and biomarker identification for treatment response and prognosis.

MANAGING PERSONAL FINANCES: EXAMPLES AND LESSONS FROM CROATIAN STUDENT POPULATION

OpenAIRE

Branko Matic; Hrvoje Serdarusic; Maja Vretenar Cobovic

2015-01-01

In this paper the authors present the results of their research related to financial involvement and management of personal finances of the student population on the territory of eastern Croatia. The research focused on the reasons for the entrance of student population into the financial system, the amount of their use of credit institutions’ services as well as their motives for choosing a certain credit institution

Advantages of the Use of English in Advertising: Attitudes of Croatian Speakers

OpenAIRE

Modrić, Marko

2016-01-01

English is most widely used language in modern advertising. Due to importance on a global scale, both political and economic, and association with modernity, urbanisation and quality, its status of the main language of advertising is not surprising. The purpose of this study is to enquire into consumers attitudes towards the use of English in advertisements (and compare them with those towards the use of Croatian). The data were collected by means of an online questionnaire administered to 77...

Breast Cancer Epidemiology of the Working-Age Female Population Reveals Significant Implications for the South Korean Economy.

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Park, Jeong Hyun; Lee, Se Kyung; Lee, Jeong Eon; Kim, Seok Won; Nam, Seok Jin; Kim, Ji-Yeon; Ahn, Jin-Seok; Park, Won; Yu, Jonghan; Park, Yeon Hee

2018-03-01

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the economic loss due to the diagnosis of breast cancer within the female South Korean working-age population. A population-based cost analysis was performed for cancer-related diagnoses between 1999 and 2014, using respective public government funded databases. Among the five most common cancers, breast cancer mortality was strongly associated with the growth in gross domestic product between 1999 and 2014 (R=0.98). In the female population, breast cancer represented the greatest productivity loss among all cancers, which was a consequence of the peak in the incidence of breast cancer during mid-working age in the working-age population, in addition to being the most common and fastest growing cancer among South Korean women. Our study shows that breast cancer not only represents a significant disease burden for individual patients, but also contributes a real, nonnegligible loss in productivity in the South Korean economy.

NATURAL GAS SUPPLY PROJECTS FOR EUROPE – SOUTH STREAM AND NABUCCO

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Domagoj Sučić

2011-12-01

Full Text Available South Stream and Nabucco are planned southern corridor projects for natural gas supply to Europe. South Stream is a Russian construction project of the gas pipeline with the capacity of 63 bcm of natural gas per year. It will connect Russia with Austria through Black Sea, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary, and with southern Italy through Greece and Ionian Sea, respectively. Nabucco is a European Union planned gas pipeline with the capacity of 31 bcm per year. If built, it will connect Caspian Region and Middle East with Austria through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Gas sources for South Stream pipeline are known and available, however it’s construction will be expensive. Nabucco gas pipeline construction costs will be two times less, but the unresolved political relations and non-existent infrastructure have caused it to have no available gas sources at the moment. Countries like Bulgaria and Hungary are involved with both projects, indicating the importance of both projects. In this paper SWOT analysis of the proposed projects was done and it has shown that there is a great chance Nabucco won’t be built if South Stream materializes first (the paper is published in Croatian.

Perceptions towards IT Security in Online Banking: Croatian Clients vs. Clients of Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Nedim Makarevic

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study has been completed with a purpose to analyze and compare perceptions of clients of Bosnia and Herzegovina and those of Croatian clients about IT security in online banking, to provide insight into similarities and differences of their view points and to create important set of information for all subjects active in banking industry. Once the survey based on six variables and specific questions assigned to each one of those variables was prepared, results regarding both countries were collected and concluded. Survey was completed in both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia at high response rates. Even 207 respondents replied from Bosnia and Herzegovina, while 203 respondents completed survey from Croatia. Results were analyzed and presented using descriptive statistics. Results indicated that Croatian e-banking users trust to banks when it comes to IT security of online banking much more compared to clients of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is important to mention that clients of Croatia perceive tangible features as highly significant while Bosnian clients do not perceive tangible features that much important. This proved that Croatian clients are aware of potential security threats and they know their part of responsibility when it comes to handling money online. On the other hand, results from Bosnia and Herzegovina indicated that Bosnian clients have lack of trust in online banking, and lack of awareness about personal tangible aspects that can improve security of personal online banking experience. The main limitation of this study is relatively small sample and too generic approach. Therefore, this study may be perceived as a pilot study for future researchers. The study’s results may be of interest to marketers and managers of banks operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to learn more about their clients’ perceptions towards their e-banking services.

THE MORPHOSYNTAX AND PRAGMATICS OF CROATIAN FEMALE NAMES

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Branko Kuna

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on the morphosyntactic properties of female names and the ways in which female first names and surnames are used, as well as on adjectives derived from them in the Croatian language. The collected examples indicate that independent use of female surnames, compared to the independent use of male surnames, demonstrates a great degree of variability because their use has still not been standardized. Due to the fact that female surnames are highly marked when compared to the majority of nouns that can undergo declension, female surnames are frequently modified by word formation procedures, even though this is in stark contrast with the norm. Female surnames that can undergo declension are also used in highly formal contexts due to pragmatic and morphosyntactic reasons.

Analysis of 12 X-STR loci in the population of south Croatia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mršić, Gordan; Ozretić, Petar; Crnjac, Josip; Merkaš, Siniša; Račić, Ivana; Rožić, Sara; Sukser, Viktorija; Popović, Maja; Korolija, Marina

2017-02-01

The aim of the study was to assess forensic pertinence of 12 short tandem repeats (STRs) on X-chromosome in south Croatia population. Investigator ® Argus X-12 kit was used to co-amplify 12 STR loci belonging to four linkage groups (LGs) on X-chromosome in 99 male and 98 female DNA samples of unrelated donors. PCR products were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis. Population genetic and forensic parameters were calculated by the Arlequin and POPTREE2 software, and an on-line tool available at ChrX-STR.org. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was confirmed for all X-STR markers in female samples. Biallelic patterns at DXS10079 locus were detected in four male samples. Polymorphism information content for the most (DXS10135) and the least (DXS8378) informative markers was 0.9212 and 0.6347, respectively. In both male and female samples, combined power of discrimination exceeded 0.999999999. As confirmed by linkage disequilibrium test, significant association of marker pair DXS10074-DXS10079 (P = 0.0004) within LG2 and marker pair DXS10101-DXS10103 (P = 0.0003) within LG3 was found only in male samples. Number of observed haplotypes in our sample pool amounted 3.01, 7.53, 5 and 3.25% of the number of possible haplotypes for LG1, LG2, LG3 and LG4, respectively. According to haplotype diversity value of 0.9981, LG1 was the most informative. In comparison of south Croatia with 26 world populations, pair-wise [Formula: see text] values increase in parallel with geographical distance. Overall statistical assessment confirmed suitability of Investigator ® Argus X-12 kit for forensic casework in both identification and familial testing in the population of south 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.

CLOTHING BUYING MOTIVES AND STORE SELECTION CRITERIA – THE CASE OF CROATIAN ADOLESCENTS

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Blaženka Knežević

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyse Croatian adolescents’ clothing buying motives and their retail store selection criteria. The paper examined their preferences, attitudes and behaviours when buying clothes - whether adolescents with different primary clothing motives would have similar or different store selection criteria. Also, the paper determined how today’s adolescents spend money on clothes and whether they are more inclined to purchase branded clothes or not. Finally, the paper explained whether Croatian adolescents prefer purchasing in small or large specialized apparel stores, or whether they are more prone to online purchasing or even buying clothes in second-hand shops. Also, the society influences in forming adolescents’ attitudes and decisions towards store selection and purchasing preferences of clothes were examined. The research findings showed that shopping centres are the preferred retail format. In addition, adolescents do not have a fully developed attitude on fashion and clothing. Therefore, they strongly refer to opinions of family and friends when choosing clothes. Moreover, the Internet and TV are evaluated as influential channels of consumer communication within this particular group of consumers. Based on the findings, suggestions for service management and marketing strategies are provided for apparel retail companies that target adolescents.

The application of the CAPM model on selected shares on the Croatian capital market

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Zrinka Tolušić

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The Capital Asset Pricing Model is a model that describes the relationship between risk, expected return and valuation of securities. The theoretical and practical value of this model has proved unquestionable, but under ideal circumstances. The theory has been utilized by numerous researchers and it confirms the linear relationship between risk and return under the CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model model showing that greater exposure to risk provides higher returns. However, empirical research showed there were numerous factors that CAPM model did not take into account since it is based on assumptions which exist in reality, but are invisible. Therefore, it is very interesting to study the application of the CAPM model on selected shares on the Croatian capital market and analyze the possibilities of its application in discovering the misvalued shares. Share price changes on the Croatian capital market suggest there are some unknown factors that also influence share valuation. There is no doubt that the fundamental analysis of shares is not sufficient for evaluating the real share value in light of various invisible elements and all available information available which affect their value as well.

Adaptive genetic variability and differentiation of Croatian and Austrian Quercus robur L. populations at a drought prone field trial

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Saša Bogdan

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Provenance trials, where populations of different geographical origin are tested in a common environment (common garden test, are a tool suited to allow the study of intraspecific adaptive genetic variation. Research of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L. adaptive genetic variability through analyses of populations in common garden tests has a long tradition. However, pedunculated oak populations originating south-eastern from the Alps have been scarcely studied in this way. This study addresses the adaptive genetic variability and differentiation of pedunculate oak populations originating from Austria and Croatia in a provenance/progeny field trial. Studied plants were six years old and were growing at the trial for three years. After two years of unusually low precipitations height and survival were analysed. The total mean height of all plants in the trial was 137.8 cm and ranged from 123.0 cm to 151.8 cm. The overall mean survival rate was rather high (0.85. Mean population survival ranged from 0.64 to 0.94. Individual narrow-sense heritabilities (hi2, family mean heritabilities (hf2, the coefficients of additive genetic variation (CVA and quantitative genetic differentiation coefficients (QST were calculated. A multivariate regression tree (MRT analysis was used to determine the pattern of genetic differentiation of the populations. Individual heritabilities for height ranged between 0.00 and 0.39. Family mean heritabilities for height were rather low in most populations as well (<0.5. Family mean heritabilities for survival were higher than for height (ranging between 0.00 and 0.77. Calculated QST coefficients (0.25 for height and 0.14 for survival indicated between-population genetic differentiation. The populations were separated into two clusters by MRT analysis regarding a climatic variable, namely Hargreaves’ reference evapotranspiration. Populations originating from comparatively more humid habitats were grouped in the first

Genetic structure in contemporary south Tyrolean isolated populations revealed by analysis of Y-chromosome, mtDNA, and Alu polymorphisms.

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Pichler, Irene; Mueller, Jakob C; Stefanov, Stefan A; De Grandi, Alessandro; Volpato, Claudia Beu; Pinggera, Gerd K; Mayr, Agnes; Ogriseg, Martin; Ploner, Franz; Meitinger, Thomas; Pramstaller, Peter P

2006-08-01

Most of the inhabitants of South Tyrol in the eastern Italian Alps can be considered isolated populations because of their physical separation by mountain barriers and their sociocultural heritage. We analyzed the genetic structure of South Tyrolean populations using three types of genetic markers: Y-chromosome, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and autosomal Alu markers. Using random samples taken from the populations of Val Venosta, Val Pusteria, Val Isarco, Val Badia, and Val Gardena, we calculated genetic diversity within and among the populations. Microsatellite diversity and unique event polymorphism diversity (on the Y chromosome) were substantially lower in the Ladin-speaking population of Val Badia compared to the neighboring German-speaking populations. In contrast, the genetic diversity of mtDNA haplotypes was lowest for the upper Val Venosta and Val Pusteria. These data suggest a low effective population size, or little admixture, for the gene pool of the Ladin-speaking population from Val Badia. Interestingly, this is more pronounced for Ladin males than for Ladin females. For the pattern of genetic Alu variation, both Ladin samples (Val Gardena and Val Badia) are among the samples with the lowest diversity. An admixture analysis of one German-speaking valley (Val Venosta) indicates a relatively high genetic contribution of Ladin origin. The reduced genetic diversity and a high genetic differentiation in the Rhaetoroman- and German-speaking South Tyrolean populations may constitute an important basis for future medical genetic research and gene mapping studies in South Tyrol.

DEA-BASED INVESTMENT STRATEGY AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE CROATIAN STOCK MARKET

OpenAIRE

Margareta Gardijan; Vedran Kojić

2012-01-01

This paper describes the DEA-based investment strategy for constructing of a stock portfolio in the Croatian stock market. The relative efficiency of the DMUs, which are in this case the selected stocks from Zagreb Stock Exchange, is obtained from the output oriented CCR and BCC models. The set of inputs consists of risk measures, namely return variance, Value at Risk (VaR) and beta coefficient $(\\beta)$, while monthly return represents an output. Following the „efficiency scores“, obtained f...

Population and development scenarios for EU neighbor countries in the South and East Mediterranean region

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groenewold, W.G.F.; de Beer, J.A.A.

2014-01-01

This paper presents four population and development scenarios for 11 South and East Mediterranean countries (SEMC) for the period 2010-2050. Focus of analysis of scenario results is on working age population prospects, economic consequences, migration pressure in four migrant-sending SEMCs (Algeria,

2nd Anglo-Croatian Medicinal Symposium on Macrocycles Medicinal Chemistry and Beyond-the-Rule-of-Five

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Vitomir Šunjić

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Second international symposium was jointly organized by the Biological and Medicinal Sector of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC and by the Croatian Chemical Society (CCS on October 17–18, 2016, in Zagreb, Croatia. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Croatian Memories : speech, meaning and emotions in a collection of interviews on experiences of war and trauma.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

F.M.G. de Jong (Franciska); A.J. van Hessen (Arjan); T. Petrovic (Tanja); S. Scagliola (Stef)

2014-01-01

textabstractIn this contribution we describe a collection of approximately 400 video interviews recorded in the context of the project Croatian Memories (CroMe) with the objective of documenting personal war-related experiences. The value of this type of sources is threefold: they contain

Awareness of Cloud Computing in Slovenian and Croatian Micro-Enterprises

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Borut Werber

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a comparison of the two studies conducted in Slovenian and Croatian micro-enterprises (µE about the awareness of the cloud computing (CC. We were interested in the issues relating to the characteristics of µE and the latter's use of information and communication technology (ICT in business processes. Also, the characteristics of owners and µE were investigated. We found that the results obtained in the two countries were similar. In both cases, the most important CC characteristics were reliability, security and performance. Given that CC could represent a good business opportunity for µE, some managerial implications are proposed.

Croatian children's experience of war is not reflected in the size and placement of emotive topics in their drawings.

Science.gov (United States)

Jolley, R P; Vulic-Prtoric, A

2001-03-01

The claim that topics in children's drawings convey the children's emotional attitude towards those topics was investigated. The influence of an emotional topic (neutral man, friendly and enemy soldier) and trauma group (child with father or father killed in war) was examined on the size of the topics and their placement relative to a self-portrait drawing. Sixty Croatian children drew a man, followed on a separate page by either (a) a Croatian soldier, (b) an enemy soldier or (c) a second drawing of a man. The child's self-portrait drawing was placed on each page. There were no significant main or interaction effects on size or placement of topic. There are unlikely to be reliable features of drawings that portray the child's emotional attitude towards the topic drawn.

Differences in Sleep Duration among Four Different Population Groups of Older Adults in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Peltzer, Karl

2017-05-09

The study aims to investigate sleep duration in four different population groups in a national probability sample of older South Africans who participated in the Study of Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) Wave 1. A national population-based cross-sectional study with a sample of 3284 aged 50 years or older in South Africa was conducted in 2008. The questionnaire included socio-demographic characteristics, health variables, and self-reported sleep duration. Results indicate that White Africans compared to other population groups had the lowest mean sleep duration (7.88 h among men and 7.46 h among women). The prevalence of short sleep was the highest among both men and women among the White African (18.8% in men and 16.9% in women) and Indian or Asian African population groups (14.5% in men and 17.1% in women), and lowest among both men and women in the Black African (7.0% in men and 6.5% in women) and multi-ancestry population groups (15.6% in men and 12.7% in women). The prevalence of long sleep was among both men and women the highest in the Black African population group (56.2% in men and 58.5% in women), and the lowest in the White African population group (36.4% in men and 24.3% in women). In a Poisson regression model, adjusted for sociodemographics and chronic disease status, coming from the male and female White African population group was associated with short sleep. In addition, coming from the Indian or Asian African population group was associated with short sleep. No population group differences were found regarding long sleep prevalence. White Africans reported more short sleep duration than the other population groups, while there were no racial or ethnic differences in long sleep. White Africans are more likely to have sleep durations that are associated with negative health outcomes. An explanation of the high short sleep prevalence among White Africans may be related to their racial or ethnic minority status in South Africa.

Differences in Sleep Duration among Four Different Population Groups of Older Adults in South Africa

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Karl Peltzer

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The study aims to investigate sleep duration in four different population groups in a national probability sample of older South Africans who participated in the Study of Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE Wave 1. A national population-based cross-sectional study with a sample of 3284 aged 50 years or older in South Africa was conducted in 2008. The questionnaire included socio-demographic characteristics, health variables, and self-reported sleep duration. Results indicate that White Africans compared to other population groups had the lowest mean sleep duration (7.88 h among men and 7.46 h among women. The prevalence of short sleep was the highest among both men and women among the White African (18.8% in men and 16.9% in women and Indian or Asian African population groups (14.5% in men and 17.1% in women, and lowest among both men and women in the Black African (7.0% in men and 6.5% in women and multi-ancestry population groups (15.6% in men and 12.7% in women. The prevalence of long sleep was among both men and women the highest in the Black African population group (56.2% in men and 58.5% in women, and the lowest in the White African population group (36.4% in men and 24.3% in women. In a Poisson regression model, adjusted for sociodemographics and chronic disease status, coming from the male and female White African population group was associated with short sleep. In addition, coming from the Indian or Asian African population group was associated with short sleep. No population group differences were found regarding long sleep prevalence. White Africans reported more short sleep duration than the other population groups, while there were no racial or ethnic differences in long sleep. White Africans are more likely to have sleep durations that are associated with negative health outcomes. An explanation of the high short sleep prevalence among White Africans may be related to their racial or ethnic minority status in South Africa.

FINANCING POLICIES OF CROATIAN PUBLICLY LISTED FIRMS

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Mihaela Grubisic Seba

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Croatia is a typical bank-based transition economy whose capital market has been primarily used for secondary trading purposes since its re-establishment in 1990s. Except for a couple of exceptions, public offers of shares and corporate bonds have been rather rate. Private offerings of shares and short-term debt have been more frequent. However, due to secondary debt market illiquidity, the debt issues are signed up and either held until maturity or renewal, or they are traded exclusively between the institutional investors.This paper provides evidence from the field on financing preferences of Croatian public companies regarding seasoned equity and corporate debt issuance. It questiones why public offerings of corporate securities in non-financial sector after initial, mostly mandatory shares’ listing have been rare and whether making decisions on securities’ offers depend on other financial instruments’ sufficiency, costs of issunace or previous experience of companies in collecting funds in the capital market.

Organisation development possibilities of Croatian electricity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toljan, I.

1999-01-01

Organisational development of the European Union members' power sector is defined by the obligatory legislative document D irectives 92/96 EC, 19.12.1996 . The development goal is a natural monopoly decrease and introduction of competition, having in mind environmental protection which will enable sustainable development of each member. This would provide the European economy to become globally more competitive and to protect macro economic stability more efficiently. The EU members are allowed to make their own decisions regarding the mode of implementation they will use to establish the organisation of electricity market. Non-members of EU are also involved in defining future changes. Developed non-members are more efficient in that process and promptly follow all changes. Transition countries, among them also Croatia, are trying to adjust to such demands, with different success. The aim of this paper is analyse the current Croatian power system and the possibilities if its modernisation. (author)

Croatian Memories : speech, meaning and emotions in a collection of interviews on experiences of war and trauma

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, Franciska M.G.; van Hessen, Adrianus J.; Petrovic, Tanja; Scagliola, Stef

In this contribution we describe a collection of approximately 400 video interviews recorded in the context of the project Croatian Memories (CroMe) with the objective of documenting personal war-related experiences. The value of this type of sources is threefold: they contain information that is

Shared and unique components of human population structure and genome-wide signals of positive selection in South Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

Metspalu, Mait; Romero, Irene Gallego; Yunusbayev, Bayazit; Chaubey, Gyaneshwer; Mallick, Chandana Basu; Hudjashov, Georgi; Nelis, Mari; Mägi, Reedik; Metspalu, Ene; Remm, Maido; Pitchappan, Ramasamy; Singh, Lalji; Thangaraj, Kumarasamy; Villems, Richard; Kivisild, Toomas

2011-12-09

South Asia harbors one of the highest levels genetic diversity in Eurasia, which could be interpreted as a result of its long-term large effective population size and of admixture during its complex demographic history. In contrast to Pakistani populations, populations of Indian origin have been underrepresented in previous genomic scans of positive selection and population structure. Here we report data for more than 600,000 SNP markers genotyped in 142 samples from 30 ethnic groups in India. Combining our results with other available genome-wide data, we show that Indian populations are characterized by two major ancestry components, one of which is spread at comparable frequency and haplotype diversity in populations of South and West Asia and the Caucasus. The second component is more restricted to South Asia and accounts for more than 50% of the ancestry in Indian populations. Haplotype diversity associated with these South Asian ancestry components is significantly higher than that of the components dominating the West Eurasian ancestry palette. Modeling of the observed haplotype diversities suggests that both Indian ancestry components are older than the purported Indo-Aryan invasion 3,500 YBP. Consistent with the results of pairwise genetic distances among world regions, Indians share more ancestry signals with West than with East Eurasians. However, compared to Pakistani populations, a higher proportion of their genes show regionally specific signals of high haplotype homozygosity. Among such candidates of positive selection in India are MSTN and DOK5, both of which have potential implications in lipid metabolism and the etiology of type 2 diabetes. Copyright © 2011 The American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of Catalase (-21 A/T Gene Variant in South Indian (Tamil Population

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A. Lourdhu Mary

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Catalase, an endogenous antioxidant enzyme, is responsible for regulating reactive species levels. Several epidemiologic studies have suggested that single nucleotide polymorphism in catalase gene may be associated with many diseases. The genotype of CAT (-21 A/T point mutation in promoter region of catalase gene was determined by polymerase chain based restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis in the DNA of 100 healthy volunteers. The frequency of CAT (-21 A/T gene polymorphism AA, AT, and TT genotypes was found to be 7, 23, and 70 percent, respectively. The mutant “T” allele frequency was found to be 0.82 among the south Indian (Tamil population. Chi square analysis showed that the study population lies within the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The wild type genotype (AA was found to be very low (7% and the mutant genotype (AT/TT was found to be more prevalent (93% among the south Indian population. This suggests that the high prevalence of mutant genotype may increase the susceptibility to oxidative stress associated diseases.

Genetic Diversity Analysis of South and East Asian Duck Populations Using Highly Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers

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Dongwon Seo

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Native duck populations have lower productivity, and have not been developed as much as commercials duck breeds. However, native ducks have more importance in terms of genetic diversity and potentially valuable economic traits. For this reason, population discriminable genetic markers are needed for conservation and development of native ducks. In this study, 24 highly polymorphic microsatellite (MS markers were investigated using commercial ducks and native East and South Asian ducks. The average polymorphic information content (PIC value for all MS markers was 0.584, indicating high discrimination power. All populations were discriminated using 14 highly polymorphic MS markers by genetic distance and phylogenetic analysis. The results indicated that there were close genetic relationships among populations. In the structure analysis, East Asian ducks shared more haplotypes with commercial ducks than South Asian ducks, and they had more independent haplotypes than others did. These results will provide useful information for genetic diversity studies in ducks and for the development of duck traceability systems in the market.

The prevalence and psychosocial correlates of suicide attempts among inpatient adolescent offspring of Croatian PTSD male war veterans.

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Boričević Maršanić, Vlatka; Margetić, Branka Aukst; Zečević, Iva; Herceg, Miroslav

2014-10-01

Despite evidence that children of male war veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are at particularly high risk for behavior problems, very little is currently known about suicidal behaviors in this population of youth. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and psychosocial correlates of suicide attempts among psychiatrically hospitalized adolescent offspring of Croatian male PTSD veterans. Participants were psychiatric inpatients, ages 12-18 years. Self-report questionnaires assessed demographics, suicide attempts, psychopathology, parenting style, and family functioning. The prevalence of suicide attempts was 61.5% (65.2% for girls and 58.0% for boys). Internalizing symptoms, family dysfunction, lower levels of maternal and paternal care, and paternal overcontrol were significantly associated with suicide attempts. Our findings suggest that suicide attempts are common among inpatient adolescent offspring of male PTSD veterans and that interventions targeting both adolescent psychopathology and family relationships are needed for adolescents who have attempted suicide.

CROATIAN AND INTERNATIONAL COPPER AND SALT ROUTES IN THE PART OF EUROPE

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Berislav Šebečić

2001-12-01

Full Text Available Middle Ages as well as in modern times. Those were caravan and cart routes and navigable river routes adapted to the possibilities of the then traffic. The iinportance of the copper and salt trade has been fin pointed out. From ancient times up until the mid-nineteenth century copper was pro-duced from copper ores in Rude near Samobor and from the mid-nine-teenth century until the beginning of the World War I mostly in Trgovi and Bešinac in Trgovska gora. The main copper trade was carried out from Rude over Dubovac (Karlovac, later on and Vrbovsko to Bakar and later on to Rijeka. I have named that the most important Croatian copper route. Intense intenational trade through Croatia that took place at the late fifteenth and in the course of the sixteenth centuries was a combination of river and cart traffic from the former foundries iu Bans-ka Bistrica (in Slovakia todayover Budim, Zagreb, Dubovac and Mod-ruš to Senj from where cargo was loaded on the ships sailing to Venice and all over the world. That route I have named the intenational copper route. Sea-salt was transported from the Adriatic saltvorks towards inland areas (Croatia salts routes; rock-salt was imported from Hungarian salt-works (todaj in ihe western Roumania and from the Tuzla salts works to the northern part of Croatia (International salt routes (the paper is published in Croatian.

Genetic affinities of the Siddis of South India: an emigrant population of East Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Gauniyal, Mansi; Chahal, S M S; Kshatriya, Gautam K

2008-06-01

Historical records indicate that the Portuguese brought the African Siddis to Goa, India, as slaves about 500 years ago. Subsequently, the Siddis moved into the interior regions of the state of Karnataka, India, and have remained there ever since. Over time the Siddis have experienced considerable cultural changes because of their proximity to neighboring population groups. To understand the biological consequences of these changes, we studied the Siddis to determine the extent of genetic variation and the contributions from the African, European, and Indian ancestral populations. In the present study we typed the Siddis for 20 polymorphic serological, red cell, and Alu insertion-deletion loci. The overall pattern of phenotype (and genotype) distribution is in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Considering the ethnohistorical records and the availability of secondary-source genetic data, we used two data sets in the analysis: one comprising eight serological and red cell enzyme markers with eight population groups and another comprising six Alu insertion-deletion markers with seven tribal groups of South India. The dendrograms generated from these two data sets on the basis of genetic distance analysis between the selected populations of African, European, and Indian descent reveals that the Siddis are closer to the Africans than they are to the South Indian populations. Genetic admixture analysis using a dihybrid model (19 loci) and a trihybrid model (10 loci and 8 loci) shows that the predominant influence comes from the Africans, a lesser contribution from the South Indians, and a slight contribution from the Portuguese. Thus the original composition of the African genes among the Siddis has been diluted to some extent by the contribution from southern Indian population groups. There is no nonrandom association of alleles among a set of 10 genetic marker systems considered in the present study. The demonstration of genetic homogeneity of the Siddis

Genetic structure of Quechua-speakers of the Central Andes and geographic patterns of gene frequencies in South Amerindian populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Luiselli, D; Simoni, L; Tarazona-Santos, E; Pastor, S; Pettener, D

2000-09-01

A sample of 141 Quechua-speaking individuals of the population of Tayacaja, in the Peruvian Central Andes, was typed for the following 16 genetic systems: ABO, Rh, MNSs, P, Duffy, AcP1, EsD, GLOI, PGM1, AK, 6-PGD, Hp, Gc, Pi, C3, and Bf. The genetic structure of the population was analyzed in relation to the allele frequencies available for other South Amerindian populations, using a combination of multivariate and multivariable techniques. Spatial autocorrelation analysis was performed independently for 13 alleles to identify patterns of gene flow in South America as a whole and in more specific geographic regions. We found a longitudinal cline for the AcP1*a and EsD*1 alleles which we interpreted as the result of an ancient longitudinal expansion of a putative ancestral population of modern Amerindians. Monmonnier's algorithm, used to identify areas of sharp genetic discontinuity, suggested a clear east-west differentiation of native South American populations, which was confirmed by analysis of the distribution of genetic distances. We suggest that this pattern of genetic structures is the consequence of the independent peopling of western and eastern South America or to low levels of gene flow between these regions, related to different environmental and demographic histories. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The level of the usage of the human resource information system and electronic recruitment in Croatian companies

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Snježana Pivac

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Performing business according to contemporary requirements influences companies for continuous usage of modern managerial tools, such as a human resource information system (HRIS and electronic recruitment (ER. Human resources have been recognised as curtail resources and the main source of a competitive advantage in creation of successful business performance. In order to attract and select the top employees, companies use quality information software for attracting internal ones, and electronic recruitment for attracting the best possible external candidates. The main aim of this paper is to research the level of the usage of HRIS and ER within medium-size and large Croatian companies. Moreover, the additional aim of this paper is to evaluate the relationship among the usage of these modern managerial tools and the overall success of human resource management within these companies. For the purpose of this paper, primary and secondary research has been conducted in order to reveal the level of the usage of HRIS and ER as well as the overall success of human resource management in Croatian companies. The companies’ classification (HRIS and ER is done by using the non-hierarchical k-means cluster method as well as the nonparametric Kruskal Wallis test. Further, the companies are ranked by the multicriteria PROMETHEE method. Relevant nonparametric tests are used for testing the overall companies’ HRM. Finally, binary logistic regression is estimated, relating binary variable HRM and HRIS development. After detailed research, it can be concluded that large Croatian companies apply HRIS in majority (with a positive relation to HRM performance, but still require certain degrees of its development.

Social participation and perceived depression among elderly population in South Africa

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Hao G

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Gang Hao,1 Ghose Bishwajit,2 Shangfeng Tang,2 Changping Nie,1 Lu Ji,3 Rui Huang4 1Zunyi Medical and Pharmaceutical College, Zunyi, 2School of Medicine and Health Management, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 3Cancer Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 4School of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China Abstract: There is a growing consensus regarding the influence of various psychosocial factors such as degree of social participation on health and disease outcomes, quality of life, and general well-being. Older individuals with diminished motor and physical functionality suffer a heightened risk of social exclusion and loneliness. Previous studies have demonstrated the association between social exclusion and loneliness with mental health among the older population. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether or not difficulty in social participation has any relationship with perceived depression among older individuals in South Africa. We collected cross-sectional data from the SAGE Well-Being of Older People Study 2010 on 422 men and women aged 50 years and above. Perceived depression and loss of interest in things (eg, personal relationships, hobbies during the last 12 months were used as outcome variables with difficulty in joining community activities, relationships/community participation, friendships, and visiting family/friends as the main explanatory variables. Findings indicated that the prevalence of self-reported depression and the feeling of reduced interest in most things were respectively 51.9% and 43.8%. In the multivariate analysis, those who reported difficulty in joining community activities had respectively 64% (OR =1.639; 95% CI =1.081–2.583 and 69% (OR =1.685; 95% CI higher odds of depression and loss of interest in things compared with those who did not report any difficulty

Genetic variations in the Dravidian population of South West coast of India: Implications in designing case-control studies.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Cunha, Anitha; Pandit, Lekha; Malli, Chaithra

2017-06-01

Indian data have been largely missing from genome-wide databases that provide information on genetic variations in different populations. This hinders association studies for complex disorders in India. This study was aimed to determine whether the complex genetic structure and endogamy among Indians could potentially influence the design of case-control studies for autoimmune disorders in the south Indian population. A total of 12 single nucleotide variations (SNVs) related to genes associated with autoimmune disorders were genotyped in 370 healthy individuals belonging to six different caste groups in southern India. Allele frequencies were estimated; genetic divergence and phylogenetic relationship within the various caste groups and other HapMap populations were ascertained. Allele frequencies for all genotyped SNVs did not vary significantly among the different groups studied. Wright's FSTwas 0.001 per cent among study population and 0.38 per cent when compared with Gujarati in Houston (GIH) population on HapMap data. The analysis of molecular variance results showed a 97 per cent variation attributable to differences within the study population and variation due to differences between castes. Phylogenetic analysis showed a separation of Dravidian population from other HapMap populations and particularly from GIH population. Despite the complex genetic origins of the Indian population, our study indicated a low level of genetic differentiation among Dravidian language-speaking people of south India. Case-control studies of association among Dravidians of south India may not require stratification based on language and caste.

Correlation between social responsibility and efficient performance in Croatian enterprises

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Neda Vitezić

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of the research is to establish if there is a correlation between efficiency and socially responsible business performance in Croatian enterprises. The research is based on the hypothesis that higher corporate efficiency affects social responsibility development in enterprises and vice versa, that socially more responsible corporate performance have a positive effect on efficiency. In their research, many authors have proved the correlation between social responsibility and financial performance, reputation of the enterprise and added value. Cases from transition countries, which transferred to market economy and focused on socially responsible management and sustainability, have not been the subject of research. The social responsibility concept implies balance between economic, ecological and social goals, which means distribution of assets on several actors, so it may be predicted that more efficient enterprises will sooner accept the sustainability concept and act more responsibly. Except for theoretical social responsibility hypothesis, the initial point in the empirical section is dynamic analysis of business activities of Croatian entrepreneurs in the period between 1993 and 2010, on the basis of which a sample of enterprises was chosen, which submit transparent reports on social responsibility. The main result obtained by univariate analysis confirms that socially more responsible enterprises have better financial results, i.e. they are more efficient, and also have better reputation. The research also had limitations in relation to qualitative determination of the social responsibility impact on efficiency. The conclusion is derived that there is a causal relationship between efficiency and social responsibility, i.e. higher efficiency level enables higher allocation of resources with the purpose of socially more responsible corporate performance and vice versa; socially responsible corporate performance have an impact on

Population health status of South Asian and African-Caribbean communities in the United Kingdom

OpenAIRE

Calvert, Melanie; Duffy, Helen; Freemantle, Nick; Davis, Russell; Lip, Gregory YH; Gill, Paramjit

2012-01-01

Abstract Background Population health status scores are routinely used to inform economic evaluation and evaluate the impact of disease and/or treatment on health. It is unclear whether the health status in black and minority ethnic groups are comparable to these population health status data. The aim of this study was to evaluate health-status in South Asian and African-Caribbean populations. Methods Cross-sectional study recruiting participants aged ≥ 45 years (September 2006 to July 2009) ...

Animal Ownership Among Vulnerable Populations in Regional South Australia: Implications for Natural Disaster Preparedness and Resilience.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Kirrilly; Trigg, Joshua; Smith, Bradley

Few studies have examined the prevalence of animal ownership among populations likely to be at greater risk from disaster events within a bushfire context. To investigate the proportion of vulnerable community members keeping animals and the types of animals kept, as well as perceived risk of harm to pets, and their inclusion in bushfire survival planning. Statewide anonymous online survey in 2014 of adult South Australian animal owners threatened by bushfire in January 2014. Respondents were asked about animal ownership, their bushfire risk perception, and household survival planning. Descriptive statistics are presented for 5 groups considered likely to contribute to increased risk of harm for households: linguistically diverse, older adults, families with young children, physically frail, and self-identifying disabled, as well as individuals with mental health considerations. An opt-in purposively targeted sample of anonymous South Australians living in high fire-risk locations. Adult South Australian animal owners threatened or directly impacted by bushfire events, including individuals matching 1 of the 5 vulnerable groups. Self-reported details of animal ownership, perceived fire risk, survival planning, and vulnerability characteristics. Animal ownership was found to be more prevalent in these 5 populations than in the wider South Australian population. Perceived risk to pets was low to moderately low in these individuals. Variation was observed in the role of animals generally and pets specifically as motivators for preparing bushfire survival plans. Emergency services and associated agencies need to consider how the unique needs of vulnerable populations that keep animals, and their potential differences in risk perception, relate to their bushfire survival planning and preparedness requirements.

Forensic performance of Investigator DIPplex indels genotyping kit in native, immigrant, and admixed populations in South Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Hefke, Gwynneth; Davison, Sean; D'Amato, Maria Eugenia

2015-12-01

The utilization of binary markers in human individual identification is gaining ground in forensic genetics. We analyzed the polymorphisms from the first commercial indel kit Investigator DIPplex (Qiagen) in 512 individuals from Afrikaner, Indian, admixed Cape Colored, and the native Bantu Xhosa and Zulu origin in South Africa and evaluated forensic and population genetics parameters for their forensic application in South Africa. The levels of genetic diversity in population and forensic parameters in South Africa are similar to other published data, with lower diversity values for the native Bantu. Departures from Hardy-Weinberg expectations were observed in HLD97 in Indians, Admixed and Bantus, along with 6.83% null homozygotes in the Bantu populations. Sequencing of the flanking regions showed a previously reported transition G>A in rs17245568. Strong population structure was detected with Fst, AMOVA, and the Bayesian unsupervised clustering method in STRUCTURE. Therefore we evaluated the efficiency of individual assignments to population groups using the ancestral membership proportions from STRUCTURE and the Bayesian classification algorithm in Snipper App Suite. Both methods showed low cross-assignment error (0-4%) between Bantus and either Afrikaners or Indians. The differentiation between populations seems to be driven by four loci under positive selection pressure. Based on these results, we draw recommendations for the application of this kit in SA. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The impact of liquidity on the capital structure: a case study of Croatian firms

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Nataša Šarlija

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Previous studies have shown that in some countries, liquid assets increased leverage while in other countries liquid firms were more frequently financed by their own capital and therefore were less leveraged. Objectives: The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of liquidity on the capital structure of Croatian firms. Methods/Approach: Pearson correlation coefficient is applied to the test on the relationship between liquidity ratios and debt ratios, the share of retained earnings to capital and liquidity ratios and the relationship between the structure of current assets and leverage. Results: A survey has been conducted on a sample of 1058 Croatian firms. There are statistically significant correlations between liquidity ratios and leverage ratios. Also, there are statistically significant correlations between leverage ratios and the structure of current assets. The relationship between liquidity ratios and the short-term leverage is stronger than between liquidity ratios and the long-term leverage. Conclusions: The more liquid assets firms have, the less they are leveraged. Long- term leveraged firms are more liquid. Increasing inventory levels leads to an increase in leverage. Furthermore, increasing the cash in current assets leads to a reduction in the short-term and the long- term leverage.

PORTFOLIO OPTIMIZATION ON CROATIAN CAPITAL MARKET

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Sinisa Bogdan

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose of this paper was to research portfolio optimization problem on Croatian capital market using Markowitz theory. Research systematically investigated the selection of securities, and defined the importance of using fundamental analysis when selecting the best combination of securities. Since fundamental analysis involves a large number of indicators, this paper selected key indicators that enable a complete and quick securities review on the market. This paper clarifies diversification effect and influence of the correlation coefficient on diversification. Two basic types of assets (stocks and cash funds have been chosen to build the optimal portfolio. Cash funds were selected because they represent a form of risk-free investment, while stocks were chosen because of the high level of return which they achieve. At the end of paper, optimal portfolio was calculated with an excellent yield of 1.82% and deviation of 5.77% on a monthly basis which corresponds to the minimum deviation of the selected stocks. Calculated optimal portfolio achieves better expected value than investing in stock index CROBEX, which for the same period achieves the expected result of -0.02%.

CROATIAN HONEY MARKET IN EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT

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Dragana Dukić

2004-06-01

Full Text Available This examination is based on comparison of honey production, in countries of European Union, transition countries and The Republic of Croatia. The situation in Croatia is shown with all information about honey production. All data are compared with already managed European countries. In comparison with registrated number of beekeepers and hives, Croatia belongs to transition countries with the smallest number of beekepers and hives. On the other hand, values, such as, number of hives per beekeper and average honey production by hive, classify Croatia ahead of transition countries. There are very few professional beekepers in Croatia, as well as in other transition countries, but not countries of The European Union. Honey production in Croatia has been increasing last seven years and in the last few it increased more than 50%. Export of honey in the last 2 years is half of the complete honey production, which accomplish conditions for export enlargement. At the same time, import of honey is considerable reduced. Conditions for export can be better with production of biological clean honey (eco-honey, since Croatia has great resources for it. Also, cost of Croatian honey on the foreign market, will be considerable higher.

Croatian Support for Strengthening International Safeguards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cizmek, Ankica; Novosel, Nevenka

2010-01-01

Nuclear science and technology has the potential to contribute to health and prosperity. However, it is also the basis for the development of nuclear weapons. The acceptance and implementation of IAEA safeguards therefore serve as important confidence building measures, through which a State can demonstrate, and other States can be assured, that nuclear energy is being used only for peaceful purpose. Practically, all countries around the world use nuclear techniques for a variety of peaceful purposes, including food and water security, energy, industrial application and human health. Only a few of these activities involve the type of nuclear material that could potentially be diverted to make nuclear weapons or other explosive devices. And here the safeguards are on duty. The safeguards system aims at detecting the diversion of nuclear material. In this paper will be presented international conventions and bilateral agreements in the field of nuclear safety as well as the Croatian cooperation with international organizations and associations in the nuclear area, such as Nuclear Supplier Group, Zangger Committee, Wassenaar Arrangement, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test- Ban treaty Organization, Euratom and civil expert groups of NATO. (author)

APPLYING THIESSEN POLYGON CATCHMENT AREAS AND GRIDDED POPULATION WEIGHTS TO ESTIMATE CONFLICT-DRIVEN POPULATION CHANGES IN SOUTH SUDAN

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L. Jordan

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Recent violence in South Sudan produced significant levels of conflict-driven migration undermining the accuracy and utility of both national and local level population forecasts commonly used in demographic estimates, public health metrics and food security proxies. This article explores the use of Thiessen Polygons and population grids (Gridded Population of the World, WorldPop and LandScan as weights for estimating the catchment areas for settlement locations that serve large populations of internally displaced persons (IDP, in order to estimate the county-level in- and out-migration attributable to conflict-driven displacement between 2014-2015. Acknowledging IDP totals improves internal population estimates presented by global population databases. Unlike other forecasts, which produce spatially uniform increases in population, accounting for displaced population reveals that 15 percent of counties (n = 12 increased in population over 20 percent, and 30 percent of counties (n = 24 experienced zero or declining population growth, due to internal displacement and refugee out-migration. Adopting Thiessen Polygon catchment zones for internal migration estimation can be applied to other areas with United Nations IDP settlement data, such as Yemen, Somalia, and Nigeria.

Applying Thiessen Polygon Catchment Areas and Gridded Population Weights to Estimate Conflict-Driven Population Changes in South Sudan

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, L.

2017-10-01

Recent violence in South Sudan produced significant levels of conflict-driven migration undermining the accuracy and utility of both national and local level population forecasts commonly used in demographic estimates, public health metrics and food security proxies. This article explores the use of Thiessen Polygons and population grids (Gridded Population of the World, WorldPop and LandScan) as weights for estimating the catchment areas for settlement locations that serve large populations of internally displaced persons (IDP), in order to estimate the county-level in- and out-migration attributable to conflict-driven displacement between 2014-2015. Acknowledging IDP totals improves internal population estimates presented by global population databases. Unlike other forecasts, which produce spatially uniform increases in population, accounting for displaced population reveals that 15 percent of counties (n = 12) increased in population over 20 percent, and 30 percent of counties (n = 24) experienced zero or declining population growth, due to internal displacement and refugee out-migration. Adopting Thiessen Polygon catchment zones for internal migration estimation can be applied to other areas with United Nations IDP settlement data, such as Yemen, Somalia, and Nigeria.

Population genetics of Ceratitis capitata in South Africa: implications for dispersal and pest management.

Science.gov (United States)

Karsten, Minette; van Vuuren, Bettine Jansen; Barnaud, Adeline; Terblanche, John S

2013-01-01

The invasive Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is one of the major agricultural and economical pests globally. Understanding invasion risk and mitigation of medfly in agricultural landscapes requires knowledge of its population structure and dispersal patterns. Here, estimates of dispersal ability are provided in medfly from South Africa at three spatial scales using molecular approaches. Individuals were genotyped at 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci and a subset of individuals were also sequenced for the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene. Our results show that South African medfly populations are generally characterized by high levels of genetic diversity and limited population differentiation at all spatial scales. This suggests high levels of gene flow among sampling locations. However, natural dispersal in C. capitata has been shown to rarely exceed 10 km. Therefore, documented levels of high gene flow in the present study, even between distant populations (>1600 km), are likely the result of human-mediated dispersal or at least some form of long-distance jump dispersal. These findings may have broad applicability to other global fruit production areas and have significant implications for ongoing pest management practices, such as the sterile insect technique.

Population genetics of Ceratitis capitata in South Africa: implications for dispersal and pest management.

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Minette Karsten

Full Text Available The invasive Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly, Ceratitis capitata, is one of the major agricultural and economical pests globally. Understanding invasion risk and mitigation of medfly in agricultural landscapes requires knowledge of its population structure and dispersal patterns. Here, estimates of dispersal ability are provided in medfly from South Africa at three spatial scales using molecular approaches. Individuals were genotyped at 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci and a subset of individuals were also sequenced for the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene. Our results show that South African medfly populations are generally characterized by high levels of genetic diversity and limited population differentiation at all spatial scales. This suggests high levels of gene flow among sampling locations. However, natural dispersal in C. capitata has been shown to rarely exceed 10 km. Therefore, documented levels of high gene flow in the present study, even between distant populations (>1600 km, are likely the result of human-mediated dispersal or at least some form of long-distance jump dispersal. These findings may have broad applicability to other global fruit production areas and have significant implications for ongoing pest management practices, such as the sterile insect technique.

Social policy and population growth in South-East Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

You Poh Seng Rao, B; Shantakumar, G

1974-01-01

Social and population policies are considered for the 10 countries comprising Southeast Asia--Burma, Indonesia, the Khmer Republic, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam. All but Singapore have high fertility rates and Burma, Indonesia, the Khmer Republic, Laos and the two Vietnams have high mortality rates also. Government expenditures for education and social security systems is expanding throughout the region and it is hoped that their continued growth will contribute substantially to the effective implementation of population policies. Population policies in the 5 countries which have them are discussed. These are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. It is noted, however, that declaration of policy is but the first step. Strategies and programs differ from one country to the next and depend very much on the stage of development, level of literacy, degree of urbanization, and other factors. Family planning activities generally are endogenous to urban social systems but exogenous to rural social systems. Thus, the rural elite has a large role to play in making population policies an integral part of rural life. The possibility is considered of developing workable incentive packages integrating health, education, and social security benefits with suitable emphasis on fertility reduction.

Life expectancy estimation in small administrative areas with non-uniform population sizes: application to Australian New South Wales local government areas

OpenAIRE

Stephens, Alexandre S; Purdie, Stuart; Yang, Baohui; Moore, Helen

2013-01-01

Objective To determine a practical approach for deriving life expectancy estimates in Australian New South Wales local government areas which display a large diversity in population sizes. Design Population-based study utilising mortality and estimated residential population data. Setting 153 local government areas in New South Wales, Australia. Outcome measures Key performance measures of Chiang II, Silcocks, adjusted Chiang II and Bayesian random effects model methodologies of life expectan...

Deadly heat waves projected in the densely populated agricultural regions of South Asia.

Science.gov (United States)

Im, Eun-Soon; Pal, Jeremy S; Eltahir, Elfatih A B

2017-08-01

The risk associated with any climate change impact reflects intensity of natural hazard and level of human vulnerability. Previous work has shown that a wet-bulb temperature of 35°C can be considered an upper limit on human survivability. On the basis of an ensemble of high-resolution climate change simulations, we project that extremes of wet-bulb temperature in South Asia are likely to approach and, in a few locations, exceed this critical threshold by the late 21st century under the business-as-usual scenario of future greenhouse gas emissions. The most intense hazard from extreme future heat waves is concentrated around densely populated agricultural regions of the Ganges and Indus river basins. Climate change, without mitigation, presents a serious and unique risk in South Asia, a region inhabited by about one-fifth of the global human population, due to an unprecedented combination of severe natural hazard and acute vulnerability.

Moving to e-Business: Exploratory Study on e-Business Readiness in Croatian Large Companies

OpenAIRE

Spremić, Mario

2003-01-01

This paper defines e-business, its dimensions with respect to differences between traditional business, partial, or pure e-business. Also, a model for moving to e-business is illustrated. The results of the study on current practices in evolving the e-business in top Croatian companies are presented. In this paper some aspects of business process innovation and e-business usage have been investigated (general e-business issues with levels of e-business usage, key objectives of participating i...

Application of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) in a rural, Zulu speaking, adolescent population in South Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Szabo, Christopher P; Allwood, Clifford W

2004-01-01

This study was undertaken as part of an exploration of the potential risk for future eating disorders in the black female population of South Africa. Previous research has documented eating attitudes suggesting that such a risk exists in urban populations. A translated version of the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) was applied in a Zulu speaking, rural population (n=361). A prevalence of 3% for abnormal eating attitudes was established. In keeping with the hypothesis, the findings suggest that the risk for developing an eating disorder in a rural population is somewhat lower. In this regard, there does appear to be an urban-rural divide, which may have implications for the prevention of the emergence of eating disorders in black, South African adolescents. However, the validity of the EAT-26 in this population is a consideration in interpreting the data. PMID:16633489

Regulatory Framework on Exploration and Exploitation of Croatian Part of Adriatic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mudric, M.

2015-01-01

As the prelude to the regulation of marine exploration and exploitation activities in the Croatian Adriatic waters, the new Mining Act and Act on exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons have provided a general legal framework for the natural resources exploration and exploitation. The latter Act also appropriated the establishment of the independent regulatory body, the Hydrocarbon Agency. It is important to mention the Decree on Fees for exploration and production of hydrocarbons, and the Decree on main technical requirements on safety and security of offshore exploration and production of hydrocarbons in the Republic of Croatia, that are of special relevance for the current activities with regard the proposed project of exploration and exploitation of the Croatian waters in search for gas and oil sea-bed deposits. The Hydrocarbon Agency has published the Strategic Study of the Likely Significant Environmental Impact of the Framework Plan and Program of Exploration and Production of Hydrocarbons in the Adriatic, a document receiving a lot of criticism from the legal experts and general public. At the same time, the experts tend to support the general idea of sea-bed exploration and exploitation, with the major antagonism still being present in the general public, with several initiatives introducing the possibility of a public referenda to oppose the sea-bed exploration and exploitation. The Government is currently preparing the Act on the Safety of Offshore Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production Operations, based on the Directive 94/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 1994 on the conditions for granting and using authorizations for the prospection, exploration and production of hydrocarbons, the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1112/2014 of 13 October 2014 determining a common format for sharing of information on major hazard indicators by the operators and owners of offshore oil and gas installations and a common format

Morphological and motor characteristics of Croatian first league female football players.

Science.gov (United States)

Jelaska, Petra Mandić; Katić, Ratko; Jelaska, Igor

2013-05-01

The aim of this study was to determine the structure of morphological and motor characteristics of Croatian first league female football players and their impact on the estimated quality of the players. According to the goal of the research, a sample consisted of 70 Croatian first league female football players. Participants were measured in 18 tests for assessing morphological characteristics, a set of 12 basic motor abilities tests and a set of 7 tests for assessing football-specific motor abilities. Exploratory factor analysis strategy was applied separately to all measured tests: morphological, basic motor abilities and football specific motor abilities. Factor analysis of morphological tests has shown existence of 3 significant latent dimensions that explain 64% of the total variability. Factors are defined as transverse dimensionality of the skeleton and voluminosity (35%), subcutaneous fat tissue (16%) and longitudinal dimensionality of the skeleton (13%). In the area of basic motor abilities, four factors were extracted. The first factor is responsible for the integration of agility and explosive power of legs, i.e. a factor of movement regulation (agility/lower body explosiveness) (23%), the second one defines muscle tone regulation (15%), the third one defines the frequency of leg movements (12%), while the fourth one is recognized as responsible for the manifestation of basic strength, particularly of basic core strength (19%). Two factors were isolated in the space of football-specific motor abilities: football-specific efficiency (53%) and situational football coordination (27%). Furthermore, by use of factor analysis on extracted latent dimensions (morphological, basic and football specific motor abilities) two higher order factors (explaining 87% of common variability) were extracted. They were named morphological-motor factor (54%) and football-specific motor abilities factor (33%). It is assumed that two extracted higher-order factors fully

Croatian Experience in Road Traffic Noise Management - Concrete Noise Barriers

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Ahac Saša

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The paper gives an overview of concrete noise barrier application in several EU countries and in Croatia. It describes a process of introducing different noise protection solutions on Croatian market in the phase of intensive motorway construction in recent years. Namely, an extensive motorway network has been constructed in Croatia in the last 10 years. Following the process of motorway construction, noise protection walls have also been erected. Usage of different building materials and installation processes as well as variations in building expenditures has led to a comparative analysis of several types of noise protection solutions (expanded clay, wood fibre including a new eco-innovative product RUCONBAR, which incorporates rubber granules from recycled waste tyres to form a porous noise absorptive layer.

Integral Indicator of Ecological Footprint for Croatian Power Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strijov, V.; Granic, G.; Juric, Z.; Jelavic, B.; Antesevic Maricic, S.

2009-01-01

The main goal of this paper is to present the methodology of construction of the Integral Indicator for Croatian Thermal Power Plants and Combined Heat and Power Plants. The Integral Indicator is necessary to compare Power Plants selected according to a certain criterion. The criterion of the Ecological Footprint is chosen. The following features of the Power Plants are used: generated electricity and heat; consumed coal and liquid fuel; sulphur content in fuel; emitted CO 2 , SO 2 , NO x and particles. To construct the Integral Indicator the linear model is used. The model parameters are tuned by the Principal Component Analysis algorithm. The constructed Integral Indicator is compared with several others, such as Pareto-Optimal Slicing Indicator and Metric Indicator. The Integral Indicator keeps as much information about features of the Power Plants as possible; it is simple and robust.(author).

Evaluation of risk management status for Croatian logistic operators

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Diana BOŽIĆ

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Understanding organisational risks makes possible to control them and to change them into organisational strengths. Being known as “measure of uncertainty” in the business process, the risk is the uncertainty of achieving the organizational objectives. It may involve positive or negative consequences. There is a level of uncertainty in every supply chain while operating transportation and warehousing, positioning on the market, developing customer support, reducing cycle times or cutting costs. Therefore, the risk assessment should be one of the main tasks for any supply chain management team. It is required to develop formal risk assessment procedures, to identify the potential impacts to the supply chain operations and to develop a set of contingency plans to mitigate risks. This paper deals with supply chain risk assessment methodology, outlining the present risk management status of Croatian logistic operators.

Gauging the threat: the first population estimate for white sharks in South Africa using photo identification and automated software.

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Alison V Towner

Full Text Available South Africa is reputed to host the world's largest remaining population of white sharks, yet no studies have accurately determined a population estimate based on mark-recapture of live individuals. We used dorsal fin photographs (fin IDs to identify white sharks in Gansbaai, South Africa, from January 2007-December 2011. We used the computer programme DARWIN to catalogue and match fin IDs of individuals; this is the first study to successfully use the software for white shark identification. The programme performed well despite a number of individual fins showing drastic changes in dorsal fin shape over time. Of 1682 fin IDs used, 532 unique individuals were identified. We estimated population size using the open-population POPAN parameterisation in Program MARK, which estimated the superpopulation size at 908 (95% confidence interval 808-1008. This estimated population size is considerably larger than those described at other aggregation areas of the species and is comparable to a previous South African population estimate conducted 16 years prior. Our assessment suggests the species has not made a marked recovery since being nationally protected in 1991. As such, additional international protection may prove vital for the long-term conservation of this threatened species.

The population genetics of Quechuas, the largest native South American group: autosomal sequences, SNPs, and microsatellites evidence high level of diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Scliar, Marilia O; Soares-Souza, Giordano B; Chevitarese, Juliana; Lemos, Livia; Magalhães, Wagner C S; Fagundes, Nelson J; Bonatto, Sandro L; Yeager, Meredith; Chanock, Stephen J; Tarazona-Santos, Eduardo

2012-03-01

Elucidating the pattern of genetic diversity for non-European populations is necessary to make the benefits of human genetics research available to individuals from these groups. In the era of large human genomic initiatives, Native American populations have been neglected, in particular, the Quechua, the largest South Amerindian group settled along the Andes. We characterized the genetic diversity of a Quechua population in a global setting, using autosomal noncoding sequences (nine unlinked loci for a total of 16 kb), 351 unlinked SNPs and 678 microsatellites and tested predictions of the model of the evolution of Native Americans proposed by (Tarazona-Santos et al.: Am J Hum Genet 68 (2001) 1485-1496). European admixture is Quechua or Melanesian populations, which is concordant with the African origin of modern humans and the fact that South America was the last part of the world to be peopled. The diversity in the Quechua population is comparable with that of Eurasian populations, and the allele frequency spectrum based on resequencing data does not reflect a reduction in the proportion of rare alleles. Thus, the Quechua population is a large reservoir of common and rare genetic variants of South Amerindians. These results are consistent with and complement our evolutionary model of South Amerindians (Tarazona-Santos et al.: Am J Hum Genet 68 (2001) 1485-1496), proposed based on Y-chromosome data, which predicts high genomic diversity due to the high level of gene flow between Andean populations and their long-term effective population size. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Validation of the Croatian Version of the Social Self-Esteem Scale

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Margareta Jelić

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Within the frame of Social Identity Theory (SIT self-esteem was given a central role in explaining intergroup discrimination. Furthermore, SIT emphasized the difference between personal and social identity and thus tried to avoid explaining group process and intergroup relations in terms of personal characteristics. However, social identity theory hypotheses are largely tested using measures of personal self-esteem due to the lack of social self-esteem measures. The Collective Self-Esteem Scale (CSES (Luhtanen i Crocker, 1992, has thus been adapted for use in Croatia. The scale measures social identity level based on belonging to the group in focus and has proved to be a useful tool in many studies. The aim of this research was the validation of the Collective Self-esteem Scale. The research was conducted on 1014 citizens of Vukovar and 273 pupils and students from Zagreb and Velika Gorica. Firstly, metric characteristics of the Croatian version of the scale were checked. Secondly, its validity and connections to related constructs were determined. Although the obtained 4-factor solution does not fully meet the structure proposed by the authors of the scale, it has had a stable factor structure on the Croatian sample, confirmed on two different samples. It gives information on the positive and negative social self-esteem level; on how one thinks other perceive his/her group; and how important that group is for one’s self-concept. All four types of information proved useful in explanation of the ethnic identity level, ingroup bias and intergroup attitudes in general. Reliability and validity values obtained in two research projects have shown the Collective Self-Esteem Scale’s potential as a useful tool when investigating group processes and intergroup relations in Croatia.

Radioactivity of fission products in cistern waters along the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franic, Z.; Marovic, G.

1997-01-01

Measurements of radioactive contamination of water samples from cisterns collecting rainwater from roofs etc. with fission products have been carried out along the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea since 1968. An exponential decline of radioactivity followed the nuclear moratorium.After the nuclear accident at Chernobyl, higher levels of 137 Cs and 90 Sr were detected again, cistern waters being the only environmental samples in Croatia in which elevated 90 Sr activities persisted for several years. For the pre-Chernobyl period, the mean residence time of 90 Sr in cistern waters being order of magnitude several years was similar to that calculated for fallout.Contrary, for the post-Chernobyl time, S r mean residence time was calculated to be considerably shorter, reflecting the tropospheric mean residence time.Therefore, the pre-Chernobyl) and the post-Chernobyl mean residence times of 90 Sr in cistern waters reflect the mechanism by which strontium was released to the atmosphere. The annual dose for the critical adult population received from 90 Sr, 137 Cs and 90 Cs by drinking cistern water was estimated to be a few per cent of the dose from natural background radiation. (authors)

Testing The ‘Black Swan Effect’ on Croatian Stock Market Between 2000 and 2013

OpenAIRE

Radman Peša, Anita; Brajković, Ana

2015-01-01

We tested the economic activity and stock exchange of Croatia as a new country of European Union (EU) in order to investigate the ‘Black Swan effect’ from 2000 to 2013. The empirical findings obtained in application of OLS methodology and Chow breaking point test provide evidence and show that resignation of the Croatian ex-Prime Minister did lead country successfully to EU. Also, ‘The Black Swan’ event, being unpredictable and having huge impact on political and economic environm...

Nomenclature and Terminology of Organic Chemistry. I. Sixty Years of Croatian Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry

OpenAIRE

Rapić, V.; Varga-Defterdarović, L.

2013-01-01

This article describes the history and development of the Croatian nomenclature of organic chemistry from the publication of the first translation of international nomenclature recommendations to the present age. In the Introduction, trivial, common, systematic (rational), and semisystematic names are defined, and the etymology and meaning of terms nomenclature and terminology are clarified.At the beginning of the central part of this article, attention is focused on the need to create our na...

Prevalence of Dermatoses in Tribal Population of Kalrayan Hill (South Arcot District

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C Mahalingam

1986-01-01

Full Text Available A sample survey was conducted to find out the prevalence of dermatoses among the tribal population of Kalrayan hill in South Arcot district who were recently found out .from the hidden spots of the hill. The prevalence of dermatoses was 40% among the 242 screened. Scabies had a prevalence of 22.7% and was more among the tribal s chool children put in huts, emphasizing the need for adequate shelter and health education. The low frequency of nutritional dermatoses 3.7% is attributed to the implementation of the noon-meal scheme. Surprising low prevalence rate for leprosy (1.7% in this highly endemic district of South Arcot needs further probing to find out some clues for protection from leprosy.

Psychiatric hospital beds and prison populations in South America since 1990: does the Penrose hypothesis apply?

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Mundt, Adrian P; Chow, Winnie S; Arduino, Margarita; Barrionuevo, Hugo; Fritsch, Rosemarie; Girala, Nestor; Minoletti, Alberto; Mitkiewicz, Flávia; Rivera, Guillermo; Tavares, María; Priebe, Stefan

2015-02-01

In 1939, English mathematician, geneticist, and psychiatrist Lionel Sharples Penrose hypothesized that the numbers of psychiatric hospital beds and the sizes of prison populations were inversely related; 75 years later, the question arises as to whether the hypothesis applies to recent developments in South America. To explore the possible association of changes in the numbers of psychiatric hospital beds with changes in the sizes of prison populations in South America since 1990. We searched primary sources for the numbers of psychiatric hospital beds in South American countries since 1990 (the year that the Latin American countries signed the Caracas Declaration) and compared these changes against the sizes of prison populations. The associations between the numbers of psychiatric beds and the sizes of prison populations were tested using fixed-effects regression of panel data. Economic variables were considered as covariates. Sufficiently reliable and complete data were obtained from 6 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. The numbers of psychiatric beds and the sizes of prison populations. Since 1990, the numbers of psychiatric beds decreased in all 6 countries (ranging from -2.0% to -71.9%), while the sizes of prison populations increased substantially (ranging from 16.1% to 273.0%). Panel data regression analysis across the 6 countries showed a significant inverse relationship between numbers of psychiatric beds and sizes of prison populations. On average, the removal of 1 bed was associated with 5.18 more prisoners (95% CI, 3.10-7.26; P = .001), which was reduced to 2.78 prisoners (95% CI, 2.59-2.97; P prison populations remained practically unchanged when income inequality was considered as a covariate (-4.28 [95% CI, -5.21 to -3.36]; P prison populations have increased against a background of strong economic growth. The changes appear to be associated because the numbers of beds decreased more extensively when and

Governance, ‘sovereignty-state-territory triad’, human population migration and xenophobia in (South Africa

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Johannes Tsheola

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article seeks to examine the association of the concept of governance of international relations and, by implication, human population migration, through the rigid practices of “sovereignty-state-territory triad” with the fomentation and exacerbation of societal stereotypes, attitudes and perceptions of xenophobia in Africa, in general, and South Africa, in particular. Ascriptions of the majority of population migration as “international” affirms the centrality of the operationalisation of the “sovereignty-state-territory triad” in understanding the fragmentary constructions of societal attitudes and perceptions of people resident in distinct geopolitical entities ascribed as national territories. State and non-state governance entrapments with this triad perpetuate societal stereotypes that are in concurrence with bordered-territories where populations described as citizens are stimulated to protect endowments and resources of the land against the perceived destruction associated with the conduct of the out-groups. Unsurprisingly, the theorisation of human population migration has equally been intricately involved with environmental conservation and securitisation of biodiversity that enables land dispossession of the vulnerable sections of the population through the Western economic narratives of “Peace Parks”. Simultaneously in Southern Africa, the concept of African Renaissance, inescapably embedded with “cooperation and conflict” at all scales, has offered a buzzword to be realised through “Peace Parks” that have evidently failed to deliver reaffirmation of African cultures, continental emancipation and democratisation. The preeminence of societal stereotypes, attitudes and perceptions of xenophobia and violent abuses of African immigrants in South Africa provides vivid illustrations of the inconsistencies and non-linearity of concepts such as African Renaissance and “Peace Parks”. This article asserts that

Prevalence of radix entomolaris in mandibular permanent first molars: a study in a South Indian population.

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Chandra, Saurabh S; Chandra, Supriya; Shankar, Padmanabhan; Indira, Rajamani

2011-09-01

Anatomical racial variations are an acknowledged characteristic in permanent molars. Generally, mandibular first molars have 2 roots; however, the presence of a third root, radix entomolaris (RE), is a major anatomic variant among many population groups. This study evaluated the prevalence of permanent mandibular first molars featuring a distolingual root in a South Indian population. Five hundred patients of South Indian origin possessing bilateral mandibular first molars were selected. The radiographs of these patients were evaluated under optimal conditions. A total of 1000 mandibular first molars were screened and the incidence of 3-rooted mandibular first molars and the correlation between left and right side occurrence and between either gender was recorded. The prevalence of 3-rooted mandibular first molars was 18.6% of the patients examined and 13.3% of the teeth examined. There was no statistically significant difference between genders or side of occurrence (P > .05). The bilateral incidence of a symmetric distribution was 43.01%. RE is considered an Asiatic trait. The occurrence of this macrostructure in the South Indian population was 13.3%, which was lower than that of other patients of Mongoloid origin. The clinician must thoroughly examine the radiograph before initiation of endodontic therapy. Copyright © 2011 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Contrasting patterns of Y-chromosome variation in South Siberian populations from Baikal and Altai-Sayan regions.

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Derenko, Miroslava; Malyarchuk, Boris; Denisova, Galina A; Wozniak, Marcin; Dambueva, Irina; Dorzhu, Choduraa; Luzina, Faina; Miścicka-Sliwka, Danuta; Zakharov, Ilia

2006-01-01

In order to investigate the genetic history of autochthonous South Siberian populations and to estimate the contribution of distinct patrilineages to their gene pools, we have analyzed 17 Y-chromosomal binary markers (YAP, RPS4Y(711), SRY-8299, M89, M201, M52, M170, 12f2, M9, M20, 92R7, SRY-1532, DYS199, M173, M17, Tat, and LLY22 g) in a total sample of 1,358 males from 14 ethnic groups of Siberia (Altaians-Kizhi, Teleuts, Shors, Tuvinians, Todjins, Tofalars, Sojots, Khakassians, Buryats, Evenks), Central/Eastern Asia (Mongolians and Koreans) and Eastern Europe (Kalmyks and Russians). Based on both, the distribution pattern of Y-chromosomal haplogroups and results on AMOVA analysis we observed the statistically significant genetic differentiation between the populations of Baikal and Altai-Sayan regions. We suggest that these regional differences can be best explained by different contribution of Central/Eastern Asian and Eastern European paternal lineages into gene pools of modern South Siberians. The population of the Baikal region demonstrates the prevalence of Central/Eastern Asian lineages, whereas in the populations of Altai and Sayan regions the highest paternal contribution resulted from Eastern European descent is revealed. Yet, our data on Y-chromosome STRs variation demonstrate the clear differences between the South Siberian and Eastern European R1a1-lineages with the evolutionary ages compatible with divergence time between these two regional groups.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase polymorphism in North American, South American, and Mexican Indian populations.

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Goedde, H W; Agarwal, D P; Harada, S; Rothhammer, F; Whittaker, J O; Lisker, R

1986-01-01

While about 40% of the South American Indian populations (Atacameños, Mapuche, Shuara) were found to be deficient in aldehyde dehydrogenase isozyme I (ALDH2 or E2), preliminary investigations showed very low incidence of isozyme deficiency among North American natives (Sioux, Navajo) and Mexican Indians (mestizo). Possible implications of such trait differences on cross-cultural behavioral response to alcohol drinking are discussed. PMID:3953578

Population genomic structure and linkage disequilibrium analysis of South African goat breeds using genome-wide SNP data.

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Mdladla, K; Dzomba, E F; Huson, H J; Muchadeyi, F C

2016-08-01

The sustainability of goat farming in marginal areas of southern Africa depends on local breeds that are adapted to specific agro-ecological conditions. Unimproved non-descript goats are the main genetic resources used for the development of commercial meat-type breeds of South Africa. Little is known about genetic diversity and the genetics of adaptation of these indigenous goat populations. This study investigated the genetic diversity, population structure and breed relations, linkage disequilibrium, effective population size and persistence of gametic phase in goat populations of South Africa. Three locally developed meat-type breeds of the Boer (n = 33), Savanna (n = 31), Kalahari Red (n = 40), a feral breed of Tankwa (n = 25) and unimproved non-descript village ecotypes (n = 110) from four goat-producing provinces of the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and North West were assessed using the Illumina Goat 50K SNP Bead Chip assay. The proportion of SNPs with minor allele frequencies >0.05 ranged from 84.22% in the Tankwa to 97.58% in the Xhosa ecotype, with a mean of 0.32 ± 0.13 across populations. Principal components analysis, admixture and pairwise FST identified Tankwa as a genetically distinct population and supported clustering of the populations according to their historical origins. Genome-wide FST identified 101 markers potentially under positive selection in the Tankwa. Average linkage disequilibrium was highest in the Tankwa (r(2)  = 0.25 ± 0.26) and lowest in the village ecotypes (r(2) range = 0.09 ± 0.12 to 0.11 ± 0.14). We observed an effective population size of 100 kb with the exception of those in Savanna and Tswana populations. This study highlights the high level of genetic diversity in South African indigenous goats as well as the utility of the genome-wide SNP marker panels in genetic studies of these populations. © 2016 Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.

The fiftieth anniversary of the Croatian scientific society for the history of health culture.

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Eterović, Igor

2017-12-01

This paper presents the impressive activity of the Croatian Society for the History of Health Culture on the occasion of the half-century anniversary. The short overall historical review of the Society's history is given, and three particularly important projects are highlighted: the science conventions "Rijeka and its Citizens in Medical History" ("Rijeka i Riječani u medicinskoj povjesnici"), the scientific journal AMHA - Acta medico-historica Adriatica, and the special section called "In honour of Asclepius and Orpheus" ("Asklepiju i Orfeju u čast").

Croatian-Hungarian cooperation on the Danube river radioactivity measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lulic, S.; Vancsura, P.

2003-01-01

Danube river radioactivity measurements on the border profile Mohac-Batina have been performed since the beginning of 1978 with varying frequency of sampling. Thus, in the period before nuclear power plant Paks started to work joint croatian-hungarian sampling at the border profile was taking place four times a year; the obtained results of measured radioactivity levels were used to assess radioactivity background data. From the start of nuclear power plant Paks running until Chernobyl reactor accident (April 1986) sampling was performed six times a year. After the Chernobyl accident, samples have been taken every month. Since decreased Chernobyl reactor accident influence was estimated until present samples have been taken six times a year. On the Danube river border profile the concentration activity of gamma radionuclides has been determined in water samples (filtered water and suspended matter), and in fish, sediment and Danube river algae samples. (authors)

Upwards Intensifiers in the English, German and Croatian Language

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Anita Pavić Pintarić

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the upwards intensifiers (adverbs of intensifying in the English, German and Croatian language. Intensity as an important human cognitive category, and language expressivity is differently treated in grammars and dictionaries of all three languages, especially with respect to different degrees of intensity. In this paper we argue that it is possible to model a typology of upwards adverb intensifiers in the three languages, according to their morphosyntactic and semantic aspects. When it comes to intensifiers, it is necessary to describe which collocates are modified by intensifiers and which semantic fields the collocates belong to. The results of the corpus analysis based on Harry Potter novels show that all the three languages express the category of the upwards intensity in the same way: the number of intensifiers is similar, the collocates mostly belong to the same semantic fields and word classes, they have similar syntactic functions.

RAPD markers and black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold intraspecies taxonomy - Evidence from the study of nine populations

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Zlatko Liber

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Although intraspecies researches within the black pine (Pinus nigra Arnold have a long tradition, the intraspecies taxonomy, classification and chorology are still unclear. Among the numerous reasons that have caused this situation the most important are: the absence of a study that would completely cover the whole range of this species, the impossibility of connection of results of the existing detailed studies of certain areas, and the high variability of traits which have been used so far. Since the characteristics of the molecular systematic techniques could make possible the research free of the mentioned shortages, the intention of this study was to determine the relationships among nine populations of black pine using the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD. The obtained results were compared to the recent results of the morphological and anatomical analysis of the leaves of the same populations. The RAPD results clearly divided the Croatian populations from populations of Austria (subsp. nigra and Turkey (subsp. pallasiana, while among Croatian populations, as in previous study, the existence of several groups (subsp. illyrica, subsp. dalmatica and transitional population between them was noticed. It is assumed that the optimisations conducted in this study will finally make possible estimating the relationships on the level of the whole range of the black pine and the classification based on molecular traits that are probably less dependent on environmental influences than it has been the case with the characteristics mostly used so far.

Genetic spectrum of low density lipoprotein receptor gene variations in South Indian population.

Science.gov (United States)

ArulJothi, K N; Suruthi Abirami, B; Devi, Arikketh

2018-03-01

Low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) is a membrane bound receptor maintaining cholesterol homeostasis along with Apolipoprotein B (APOB), Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/Kexin type 9 (PCSK9) and other genes of lipid metabolism. Any pathogenic variation in these genes alters the function of the receptor and leads to Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) and other cardiovascular diseases. This study was aimed at screening the LDLR, APOB and PCSK9 genes in Hypercholesterolemic patients to define the genetic spectrum of FH in Indian population. Familial Hypercholesterolemia patients (n=78) of South Indian Tamil population with LDL cholesterol and Total cholesterol levels above 4.9mmol/l and 7.5mmol/l with family history of Myocardial infarction were involved. DNA was isolated by organic extraction method from blood samples and LDLR, APOB and PCSK9 gene exons were amplified using primers that cover exon-intron boundaries. The amplicons were screened using High Resolution Melt (HRM) Analysis and the screened samples were sequenced after purification. This study reports 20 variations in South Indian population for the first time. In this set of variations 9 are novel variations which are reported for the first time, 11 were reported in other studies also. The in silico analysis for all the variations detected in this study were done to predict the probabilistic effect in pathogenicity of FH. This study adds 9 novel variations and 11 recurrent variations to the spectrum of LDLR gene mutations in Indian population. All these variations are reported for the first time in Indian population. This spectrum of variations was different from the variations of previous Indian reports. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Social participation and perceived depression among elderly population in South Africa.

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Hao, Gang; Bishwajit, Ghose; Tang, Shangfeng; Nie, Changping; Ji, Lu; Huang, Rui

2017-01-01

There is a growing consensus regarding the influence of various psychosocial factors such as degree of social participation on health and disease outcomes, quality of life, and general well-being. Older individuals with diminished motor and physical functionality suffer a heightened risk of social exclusion and loneliness. Previous studies have demonstrated the association between social exclusion and loneliness with mental health among the older population. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether or not difficulty in social participation has any relationship with perceived depression among older individuals in South Africa. We collected cross-sectional data from the SAGE Well-Being of Older People Study 2010 on 422 men and women aged 50 years and above. Perceived depression and loss of interest in things (eg, personal relationships, hobbies) during the last 12 months were used as outcome variables with difficulty in joining community activities, relationships/community participation, friendships, and visiting family/friends as the main explanatory variables. Findings indicated that the prevalence of self-reported depression and the feeling of reduced interest in most things were respectively 51.9% and 43.8%. In the multivariate analysis, those who reported difficulty in joining community activities had respectively 64% (OR =1.639; 95% CI =1.081-2.583) and 69% (OR =1.685; 95% CI) higher odds of depression and loss of interest in things compared with those who did not report any difficulty. The study concludes that addressing the barriers to engaging in community activities may help minimize burden of depression among the elderly population in South Africa. Furthermore, large-scale studies are warranted to explore the social and structural barriers which constrain community participation among the elderly population.

First Steps to School Readiness: South Carolina's Response to At-Risk Early Childhood Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Buford, Rhonda; Stegelin, Dolores A.

2003-01-01

Describes South Carolina's new state early childhood program, First Steps to School Readiness. Includes a profile of the state's at-risk child population, noting poverty and education risk indicators, and describing key program components. The article discusses program oversight, local program partnerships, program funding mechanisms, and local…

Political Cynicism and Kynicism of Croatian Citizens. Profiles of Political Thinking and Behavior

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Nebojša Blanuša

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In the last thirty years uneasiness among scholars and political actors has been growing larger as more citizens demonstrate cynical attitudes. These citizens feel that politicians are immoral and incompetent, have less faith in democracy, and show lower levels of political participation. However, Peter Sloterdijk points out that the dominant view of cynicism is simplified. He divides cynical reason into two separate ways of thinking: cynicism and kynicism. The main difference between them is in individual’s reaction to the cleavage between public ideological mask and individual’s idea of social reality. Cynics persist in keeping the ideological mask on and have an “enlightened false consciousness”, while kynics highlight this cleavage, oppose the dominant ideology and point out misuses of political power. This research was conducted with the goal of creating cynicism and kynicism scales. Their validity was tested for two samples – a smaller sample of students and later on the representative sample of Croatian citizens (N=1002. Also, connection of cynical and kynical thought with an array of relevant political attitudes and political behavior was tested. Results indicate that cynicism and kynicism are relatively separated and coherent types of political thought. Kynicism is primarily related to low trust in political institutions, but also to lower support of democracy. Specific combinations of these two types of thought have a highly negative potential for abandoning the democratic way of thinking. This work offers an empirical confirmation for Sloterdijk’s model, and confirms usefulness of it in understanding political thought and behavior of Croatian citizens.

Political Cynicism and Kynicism of Croatian Citizens. Profiles of Political Thinking and Behavior

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Blanuša, Nebojša

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In the last thirty years uneasiness among scholars and political actors has been growing larger as more citizens demonstrate cynical attitudes. These citizens feel that politicians are immoral and incompetent, have less faith in democracy, and show lower levels of political participation. However, Peter Sloterdijk points out that the dominant view of cynicism is simplified. He divides cynical reason into two separate ways of thinking: cynicism and kynicism. The main difference between them is in individual’s reaction to the cleavage between public ideological mask and individual’s idea of social reality. Cynics persist in keeping the ideological mask on and have an “enlightened false consciousness”, while kynics highlight this cleavage, oppose the dominant ideology and point out misuses of political power. This research was conducted with the goal of creating cynicism and kynicism scales. Their validity was tested for two samples – a smaller sample of students and later on the representative sample of Croatian citizens (N=1002. Also, connection of cynical and kynical thought with an array of relevant political attitudes and political behavior was tested. Results indicate that cynicism and kynicism are relatively separated and coherent types of political thought. Kynicism is primarily related to low trust in political institutions, but also to lower support of democracy. Specific combinations of these two types of thought have a highly negative potential for abandoning the democratic way of thinking. This work offers an empirical confirmation for Sloterdijk’s model, and confirms usefulness of it in understanding political thought and behavior of Croatian citizens.

Jasenovac – A Past that Does Not Pass : The Presence of Jasenovac in Croatian and Serbian Collective Memory of Conflict

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Odak, S.; Benčić, A.

2016-01-01

In this article the authors discuss the role of Jasenovac Concentration Camp in Croatian and Serbian political and social spheres. Connecting the historical data with the analysis of the recent mutual accusations of genocide between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Serbia before the

Occurrences in Capital Structure Flow of Croatian Companies in the Pre-Recession Period (2002 – 2007

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Stipan Penavin

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The objectives of the paper were to analyse the ways of changing the capital structure in Croatian companies in the period 2002-2007 and to examine whether there is a difference in the capital structure with regard to the activity and the regions in Croatia. The capital structure was examined by analysing three financial coefficients: debt ratio, liabilities/capital ratio and indebtedness factor. The research encompassed a representative sample of 1,500 Croatian companies whose structure was observed in the mentioned period. The companies had three activities: manufacturing, services and commerce and were located in three regions: eastern, north-western and the Adriatic region. Variance analysis (ANOVA for repeated measurements was used to analyse longitudinal data. The results show that the most frequent way of capital structure change is the one where the equity remains the same and own capital grows through retained earnings while the capital from outside sources increases as well. Furthermore, there is a difference in capital structure regarding the activity and the regions in Croatia at a certain time. The highest indebtedness was recorded in the commercial business while the lowest was in the service industry. Moreover, the highest indebtedness level is in the eastern region and the lowest in the north-western region.

Mineral composition of enamel from two South African population groups

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Retief, D H [University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (South Africa). Dental Research Unit; Turkstra, J [University of Fort Hare, Alice (South Africa). Department of Chemistry; Cleaton-Jones, P E; Biddlecombe, F [Atomic Energy Board, Pelindaba, Pretoria (South Africa). Chemistry Div.

1979-10-01

The mineral composition of pooled bulk enamel from Black and White South Africans respectively, resident in the Johannesburg area, was determined by neutron activation analysis and high resolution gamma spectromety. The differences between the concentrations of Ca, Cl, Mg, Na, Br and Co in the enamel of the two population groups were apparently not significant. There was a trend for the concentrations of Al, Ag, Au, Fe, Sb, and Zn to be higher in the enamel from the White subjects and for the concentrations of Mn, Se and Sr to be higher in the enamel from the Black subjects.

Critical Mass in the Boardroom of Croatian Banks

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Kramaric Tomislava Pavic

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the influence of gender diversity in the boardroom of Croatian banks on their performance. Specifically, we deal with both management and supervisory boards. Moreover, based on critical mass theory, the authors try to find out what constitutes critical mass. Using a static panel analysis on a sample of all commercial banks that operated in the period 2002-2014, three models were estimated with return on assets (ROA, return on equity (ROE and net interest margin (NIM as dependent variables. Board structure variables include gender of the chairperson, size of the board, share of women on the board and four dummy variables constructed on critical mass theory, specifically uniform group, skewed group, tilted group and balanced group. Other controls employed in the model include capital adequacy, the growth rate of assets at the bank level, ownership, age and a crisis dummy. The main finding is that when a critical mass of 20%-40% of women on the management board has been reached, bank performance improves.

A diffusion based study of population dynamics: Prehistoric migrations into South Asia.

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Mayank N Vahia

Full Text Available A diffusion equation has been used to study migration of early humans into the South Asian subcontinent. The diffusion equation is tempered by a set of parameters that account for geographical features like proximity to water resources, altitude, and flatness of land. The ensuing diffusion of populations is followed in time-dependent computer simulations carried out over a period of 10,000 YBP. The geographical parameters are determined from readily-available satellite data. The results of our computer simulations are compared to recent genetic data so as to better correlate the migratory patterns of various populations; they suggest that the initial populations started to coalesce around 4,000 YBP before the commencement of a period of relative geographical isolation of each population group. The period during which coalescence of populations occurred appears consistent with the established timeline associated with the Harappan civilization and also, with genetic admixing that recent genetic mapping data reveal. Our results may contribute to providing a timeline for the movement of prehistoric people. Most significantly, our results appear to suggest that the Ancestral Austro-Asiatic population entered the subcontinent through an easterly direction, potentially resolving a hitherto-contentious issue.

Phylogeography and Sex-Biased Dispersal across Riverine Manatee Populations (Trichechus inunguis and Trichechus manatus) in South America

OpenAIRE

Satiz?bal, Paula; Mignucci-Giannoni, Antonio A.; Duch?ne, Sebasti?n; Caicedo-Herrera, Dalila; Perea-Sicchar, Carlos M.; Garc?a-D?vila, Carmen R.; Trujillo, Fernando; Caballero, Susana J.

2012-01-01

Phylogeographic patterns and sex-biased dispersal were studied in riverine populations of West Indian (Trichechus manatus) and Amazonian manatees (T. inunguis) in South America, using 410bp D-loop (Control Region, Mitochondrial DNA) sequences and 15 nuclear microsatellite loci. This multi-locus approach was key to disentangle complex patterns of gene flow among populations. D-loop analyses revealed population structuring among all Colombian rivers for T. manatus, while microsatellite data sug...

Effectively addressing the health needs of South Africa's population: the role of health professions education in the 21st century.

Science.gov (United States)

van Heerden, B

2012-11-22

The causes of the poor health status of the South African population are probably multifactorial, but to be socially accountable we must ensure that the education and training of health professionals continue to be aligned with the population's health needs. The authors of a seminal report published in the Lancet in 2010 provide guidelines for the future training of health professionals. Since November 2010, this report, together with other guiding publications, informed a series of strategic initiatives undertaken by the Undergraduate Education and Training subcommittee of the Medical and Dental Professions Board of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). These initiatives seek to ensure alignment of the training of health professionals in South Africa (SA) with the health needs of the population and with international educational norms and standards. These initiatives are described and the role of the HPCSA in guiding the education and training of SA's health professionals is explored.

Molecular diversity and population structure of the forage grass Hemarthria compressa (Poaceae) in south China based on SRAP markers.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, L-K; Zhang, X-Q; Xie, W-G; Zhang, J; Cheng, L; Yan, H D

2012-08-16

Hemarthria compressa is one of the most important and widely utilized forage crops in south China, owing to its high forage yield and capability of adaptation to hot and humid conditions. We examined the population structure and genetic variation within and among 12 populations of H. compressa in south China using sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) markers. High genetic diversity was found in these samples [percentage polymorphic bands (PPB) = 82.21%, Shannon's diversity index (I) = 0.352]. However, there was relatively low level of genetic diversity at the population level (PPB = 29.17%, I = 0.155). A high degree of genetic differentiation among populations was detected based on other measures and molecular markers (Nei's genetic diversity analysis: G(ST) = 54.19%; AMOVA analysis: F(ST) = 53.35%). The SRAP markers were found to be more efficient than ISSR markers for evaluating population diversity. Based on these findings, we propose changes in sampling strategies for appraising and utilizing the genetic resources of this species.

DIFFERENCES AMONG TENNIS PLAYERS AGED 12, 14 AND 16 YEARS IN CERTAIN MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS: A CROATIAN PROSPECTIVE

OpenAIRE

Novak, Dario; Milanović, Dragan; Barbaros-Tudor, Petar

2015-01-01

Primary objective of this research was to identify quantitative differences among tennis players aged 12, 14 and 16 with regards to the indicators of morphological characteristics. Sixty (60) tennis players ranked on the scale of the Croatian Tennis Association were analysed through differences in morphological characteristics which were identified by a standard laboratory diagnostic procedure in Sports-diagnostic Centre of the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Zagreb. Significant d...

Prevalence of primary glaucoma in an urban South Indian population

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Jacob Aby

1998-01-01

Full Text Available Glaucoma is fast emerging as a major cause of blindness in India. In order to estimate the prevalence of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG and primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG in an urban South Indian population, we examined 972 individuals aged 30-60 years, chosen using a cluster sampling technique from 12 census blocks of Vellore town. They underwent a complete ocular examination, including applanation tonometry and gonioscopy, at the Medical College Hospital. Characteristic field defects on automated perimetry was a diagnostic requisite for POAG. Prevalence (95% CI of POAG, PACG, and ocular hypertension were 4.1 (0.08-8.1, 43.2 (30.14-56.3, and 30.8 (19.8-41.9 per 1,000, respectively. All the PACG cases detected were of the chronic type. Hitherto unavailable community-based information on primary glaucoma in our study population indicates that PACG is about five times as common as POAG.

A Special Issue: Geomathematics in practice: Case studies from earth- and environmental sciences – Proceedings of the Croatian-Hungarian Geomathematical Congress, Hungary 2015

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Hatvani István Gábor

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The present paper aims to introduce the current problems of geomathematics along with giving on overview on the papers published in the special issue covering the Croatian-Hungarian Geomathematical Congress of 2015 in Hungary.

“Ethnic” and “Cosmopolitan” Transnationalism: Two Cohorts of Croatian Immigrants in Australia

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Val Colic-Peisker

2006-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a case study of migrant transnationalism on the basis of ethnographic data collected among Croatians migrants in Western Australia. So far transnationalism has been theorized as the sustained connection of migrants to their homelands, while this paper introduces a distinction between “ethnic” and “cosmopolitan” transnationalism. The sample of respondents comes from two distinct immigrant cohorts, one consisting of earlier arrivals (1950s–1970s and the other comprising more recent arrivals (1980s–1990s. Due to social changes in the sending country as well as immigration policy changes in the receiving country, these two cohorts are significantly different in terms of their socio-economic background. This determines their identity, belonging and type of incorporation in the Australian society, and also brings about different types of transnationalism that these two groups practise. While respondents from the working-class cohort tend to see their ethnic identity as central and describe themselves as part of the Croatian diaspora, those from the more recent middle-class cohort see their profession as the central axis of their identity. The transnationalism of the older cohort is conceptualized as “ethnic transnationalism” which bridges the distance between Australia and the “lost” but nonetheless real homeland, Croatia. The transnationalism of the professional cohort is theorized as “cosmopolitan transnationalism” which is lived and felt beyond the homeland-hostland connection, in the space of cultural hybridity and global mobility. The introduction to this paper gives a brief overview of the concept of transnationalism and the way it has been theorized in migration studies in the past twenty years.

Caesarean Section Rates in South Africa: evidence of bias among different ‘population groups’

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MATSHIDZE, K. PATRICK; RICHTER, LINDA M.; ELLISON, GEORGE T. H.; LEVIN, JONATHAN B.; McINTYRE, JAMES A.

2007-01-01

Objective The aim of this study was to assess the effect of ‘population group’ classification, as a specific instance of ‘racial’ categorization, on caesarean section rates in South Africa. Design Information on ‘population group’ classification (‘Black’, ‘Coloured’, ‘Indian’ or ‘White’, as defined under apartheid legislation) and place of delivery, together with basic obstetric, sociodemographic and perinatal data, were extracted from the birth notification forms of 5456 children who made up the birth cohort of the Birth to Ten longitudinal study. This cohort included all births that occurred to mothers resident in Soweto-Johannesburg during a 7-week period in 1990. Results After accounting for differences in maternal age, gravidity, birth weight and gestational age at delivery, the rate of caesarean sections at private facilities was more than twice that at public facilities. Although there were significant differences in the utilisation of private facilities by women from different ‘population groups’, there was an independent effect of ‘population group’ classification on caesarean section rates: caesarean section rates among women classified as ‘White’ and ‘Coloured’ were significantly higher (95% confidence intervals for odds ratios: 1.40-2.42 and 1.05-1.81, respectively) than among women classified as ‘Black’. Conclusion ‘Population group’ differences in caesarean section rates among South African women are not explained by differences in demographic risk factors for assisted delivery, nor by differences in access to private health care. Instead, the differences in section rates may reflect the effect of bias in clinical decision-making, and/or differences among women from different ‘population groups’ in their attitude towards assisted delivery, and their capacity to negotiate with clinicians. PMID:9673465

Population specific biomarkers of human aging: a big data study using South Korean, Canadian and Eastern European patient populations.

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Mamoshina, Polina; Kochetov, Kirill; Putin, Evgeny; Cortese, Franco; Aliper, Alexander; Lee, Won-Suk; Ahn, Sung-Min; Uhn, Lee; Skjodt, Neil; Kovalchuk, Olga; Scheibye-Knudsen, Morten; Zhavoronkov, Alex

2018-01-11

Accurate and physiologically meaningful biomarkers for human aging are key to assessing anti-aging therapies. Given ethnic differences in health, diet, lifestyle, behaviour, environmental exposures and even average rate of biological aging, it stands to reason that aging clocks trained on datasets obtained from specific ethnic populations are more likely to account for these potential confounding factors, resulting in an enhanced capacity to predict chronological age and quantify biological age. Here we present a deep learning-based hematological aging clock modeled using the large combined dataset of Canadian, South Korean and Eastern European population blood samples that show increased predictive accuracy in individual populations compared to population-specific hematologic aging clocks. The performance of models was also evaluated on publicly-available samples of the American population from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In addition, we explored the association between age predicted by both population-specific and combined hematological clocks and all-cause mortality. Overall, this study suggests a) the population-specificity of aging patterns and b) hematologic clocks predicts all-cause mortality. Proposed models added to the freely available Aging.AI system allowing improved ability to assess human aging. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.

Comparative analysis of the spatial organisation of the Catholic Church on the Croatian Adriatic coast. Changes after World War II and perspectives for its future reorganisation

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Josip Kajinić

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines the changes in the organisation of the Catholic Church in Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia after World War II. A detailed analysis of the circumstances that lead to the establishment of the Rijeka Diocese, Archdiocese and Metropolitan Archdiocese, ecclesiastical union of the Istrian region in Croatia, the abolition of the Zadar Metropolitan Archdiocese, the raising of the Split-Makarska Diocese to an Archdiocese, and the establishment of the Split Metropolitan Archdiocese. The principles upon which the Church reorganisation in the spatial sense are considered, and presents new insights, particularly for the Croatian dimension. The second part of the paper gives a comparative analysis of the spatial organisation of the Catholic Church on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, with other countries. Examples were selected based on compatibility of different factors, with consideration to the historical context of events and their causes. To that aim, specific examples of the church administration in France and Italy are given. Using these examples and documents of church archives and official records and documents of the Catholic Church, this paper gives a final overview of the possibilities for the reorganisation of the church administration on the Croatian Adriatic coast.

Comparative analysis of the spatial organisation of the Catholic Church on the Croatian Adriatic coast. Changes after World War II and perspectives for its future reorganisation

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Josip Kajinić

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper outlines the changes in the organisation of the Catholic Church in Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia after World War II. A detailed analysis of the circumstances that lead to the establishment of the Rijeka Diocese, Archdiocese and Metropolitan Archdiocese, ecclesiastical union of the Istrian region in Croatia, the abolition of the Zadar Metropolitan Archdiocese, the raising of the Split-Makarska Diocese to an Archdiocese, and the establishment of the Split Metropolitan Archdiocese. The principles upon which the Church reorganisation in the spatial sense are considered, and presents new insights, particularly for the Croatian dimension. The second part of the paper gives a comparative analysis of the spatial organisation of the Catholic Church on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, with other countries. Examples were selected based on compatibility of different factors, with consideration to the historical context of events and their causes. To that aim, specific examples of the church administration in France and Italy are given. Using these examples and documents of church archives and official records and documents of the Catholic Church, this paper gives a final overview of the possibilities for the reorganisation of the church administration on the Croatian Adriatic coast.

Evaluation of arch width variations among different skeletal patterns in South Indian population.

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Prasad, Mandava; Kannampallil, Senny Thomas; Talapaneni, Ashok Kumar; George, Suja Ani; Shetty, Sharath Kumar

2013-01-01

Anterior cranial base can be taken as a reference line (SN) to determine the steepness of mandibular plane. Subjects with high mandibular plane angle tend to have a long face and one with low MP-SN angle has a shorter face. This study was done to investigate if dental arch widths correlated with vertical facial types and if there are any differences in arch widths between untreated male and female adults in South Indian population. Lateral cephalogram and dental casts were obtained from 180 untreated South Indian adults (90 males and 90 females) above 18 year old with no cross bite, minimal crowding and spacing. The angle between the anterior cranial base and the mandibular plane was measured on lateral cephalogram of each patient. Dental casts were used to obtain comprehensive dental measurements including maxillary and mandibular inter canine, inter premolar and inter molar widths, as well as amount of crowding or spacing. The results showed that male arch widths were significantly larger than those of females (P population. The results obtained in our study when compared with studies done in other population groups showed that there is difference in inter arch widths according to ethnicity and race. It was concluded that the dental arch width is associated with gender, race and vertical facial morphology. Thus using individualized arch wires according to each patient's pre treatment arch form and width is suggested during orthodontic treatment.

Population increase and environmental deterioration correspond with microlithic innovations in South Asia ca. 35,000 years ago.

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Petraglia, Michael; Clarkson, Christopher; Boivin, Nicole; Haslam, Michael; Korisettar, Ravi; Chaubey, Gyaneshwer; Ditchfield, Peter; Fuller, Dorian; James, Hannah; Jones, Sacha; Kivisild, Toomas; Koshy, Jinu; Lahr, Marta Mirazón; Metspalu, Mait; Roberts, Richard; Arnold, Lee

2009-07-28

Genetic studies of South Asia's population history have led to postulations of a significant and early population expansion in the subcontinent, dating to sometime in the Late Pleistocene. We evaluate this argument, based on new mtDNA analyses, and find evidence for significant demographic transition in the subcontinent, dating to 35-28 ka. We then examine the paleoenvironmental and, particularly, archaeological records for this time period and note that this putative demographic event coincides with a period of ecological and technological change in South Asia. We document the development of a new diminutive stone blade (microlithic) technology beginning at 35-30 ka, the first time that the precocity of this transition has been recognized across the subcontinent. We argue that the transition to microlithic technology may relate to changes in subsistence practices, as increasingly large and probably fragmented populations exploited resources in contracting favorable ecological zones just before the onset of full glacial conditions.

The relationship of trait emotional intelligence with the Big Five in Croatian and Slovene university student samples

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Andreja Avsec

2009-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between trait emotional intelligence (EI and the Big Five factors of personality in two samples of Croatian and Slovenian university students. If EI is to be of significant value, it must measure something unique and distinct from standard personality traits. The Croatian sample consisted of 257 undergraduate students from University of Rijeka and Osijek and in Slovene sample there were 171 undergraduate students from University of Ljubljana. Participants filled out the Emotional Skills and Competences Questionnaire (ESCQ, Takšić, 1998 and the Big Five Inventory (BFI; John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1991. After controlling for nationality and gender, the Big Five explained up to 33% of the variance of EI. For the Perceive and Understand Emotions Scale only openness and extraversion explain important part of the variance; for the Express and Label Emotions Scale extraversion and conscientiousness are important predictors. The Big Five traits are able to explain the highest proportion of the variance in the Manage and Regulate Emotion Scale; neuroticism is the strongest predictor, but extraversion and conscientiousness also predict important part of the variance. Although high, this percentage of explained variance does not put in question the discriminant validity of EI questionnaire.

DETERMINANTS OF CAPITAL STRUCTURE OF CROATIAN ENTERPRISES BEFORE AND DURING THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

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Ena Mostarac

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper analysis capital structure determinants of Croatian enterprises based on a cross-sectional data for pre-recession 2007 and recession 2010 comprising about 10,000 firms. Determinants are selected with reference to the relevant capital structure theories and include asset tangibility, profitability, firm size and business risk. The results indicate highly positive significant impact of tangibility and negative significant impact of profitability on financial leverage in both observed years. Firm size seems to be statistically significant at higher level in crisis period, but at the same time no relationship can be found between business risk and financial leverage that is of economic significance.

A Large Plasmodium vivax Reservoir and Little Population Structure in the South Pacific.

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Cristian Koepfli

Full Text Available The importance of Plasmodium vivax in malaria elimination is increasingly being recognized, yet little is known about its population size and population genetic structure in the South Pacific, an area that is the focus of intensified malaria control.We have genotyped 13 microsatellite markers in 295 P. vivax isolates from four geographically distinct sites in Papua New Guinea (PNG and one site from Solomon Islands, representing different transmission intensities.Diversity was very high with expected heterozygosity values ranging from 0.62 to 0.98 for the different markers. Effective population size was high (12'872 to 19'533 per site. In PNG population structuring was limited with moderate levels of genetic differentiation. F ST values (adjusted for high diversity of markers were 0.14-0.15. Slightly higher levels were observed between PNG populations and Solomon Islands (F ST = 0.16.Low levels of population structure despite geographical barriers to transmission are in sharp contrast to results from regions of low P. vivax endemicity. Prior to intensification of malaria control programs in the study area, parasite diversity and effective population size remained high.

Proces organizacijskega učenja v slovenskih, hrvaških in malezijskih podjetjih = Organizational Learning Process in Slovenian, Croatian, and Malaysian Companies

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Vlado Dimovski

2006-12-01

Full Text Available n our contribution we aim to test differences in the way companies learn in Slovenia, Croatia, and Malaysia. We used the Organizational learning measurement instrument developed and tested by Dimovski (1994, Škerlavaj (2003, Dimovski and Škerlavaj (2005. It employs three measurement variables (Information acquisition, Information interpretation, and Behavioural and cognitive changes as well as 38 items (presented in the paper to measure the Organizational learning construct. In autumn 2005, data from 203 Slovenian, 202 Croatian, and 300 Malaysian companies were gathered. Results indicate that companies in all three countries under scrutiny are closest in terms of behavioural and cognitive changes, meaning that globalization and other challenges of the modern business environment demand all of them to change and adapt quickly. However, the ways they are coping with those challenges are different. Generally speaking, there are more similarities than dissimilarities between Slovenia and Croatia, while this is not the case when comparing both countries to Malaysia. When acquiring information, Slovenian and Croatian companies rely more on internal sources (own employees, past decisions, etc., while Malaysian companies tend to rely more on external sources and more often have employees dedicated to searching for external information. When trying to interpret the information acquired, Slovenian and Croatian companies rely more on personal contacts, informal team meetings, and believe that information given to subordinates must be simple and concise, while Malaysian companies tend to use more formal collective decision-making and written communication to understand the meaning of information.

Crowdfunding - Croatian legal perspective and comparison to other sources of financing

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Katarina Durdenic

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Crowdfunding is a new way of financing ideas by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Most countries do not have special legislation governing crowdfunding but some countries like the United States, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Germany have amended their legislation with provisions specifically designed for crowdfunding. The first aim of this research was to examine which existing legislation could be applied to crowdfunding as well as to review whether there is a need in the Croatian system to introduce new legislation designed specifically for crowdfunding issues. The second research aim was to compare crowdfunding with other sources of financing in order to decide whether it can represent a substitute for them or only a possible complementary instrument.

210Pb and 210Po Determination in Bottled Water Available on the Croatian Market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogic, M.; Rozmaric Macefat, M.; Benedik, Lj.; Strok, M.

2011-01-01

An alpha emitting radionuclide 210Po and beta emitting radionuclide 210Pb are decay products of 238U. Due to their nuclear properties they are considered as radionuclides with the highest radiotoxicity and contribute significantly to the internal dose to the population received by drinking water. For radiological impact assessment 210Pb and 210Po must be measured routinely and accurately, with low detection limits. The aim of our study was determination of activity concentrations of 210Pb and 210Po in bottled drinking and mineral waters available on Croatian market. For their determination a procedure for their simultaneous separation from the water samples was used. After addition of 209Po tracer and lead carrier, radionuclides were preconcentrated from large volume by MnO 2 and their separation from interfering elements by Sr resin was done. 210Po source for alpha-particle spectrometric measurement was prepared by selfdeposition on silver disc, while lead was precipitated as lead sulphate and the beta activity of its daughter 210Bi was counted on a beta proportional counter. The results obtained show that values for activity concentrations of 210Pb and 210Po in all examined waters are in accordance with allowed activity concentration according to the European Commission Recommendation 2001/928/Euratom and Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality, published by WHO in 2006. (author)

[Infection by hepatitis virus among the indigenous populations of South America: a review of the problem].

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Echevarría, J M; Blitz-Dorfman, L; Pujot, F H

1996-09-01

After the report of the epidemic outbreak of delta hepatitis among the Yukpa amerindians in the early 80s, the viral hepatitis arose as an important health problem in all the Amerindian communities from the north of South America and the Amazonian Basin. Despite the few data available, the results obtained in different communities from Venezuela (Yukpa, Barí, Yanomami) have shown a high endemicity of hepatitis B and D virus infections and a significant prevalence of hepatitis E virus-specific antibody among their members. By contrast, the infection by hepatitis C virus, which is present in all the urban areas from South America, seems uncommon, or even absent among some Amerindian populations. At the moment, a satisfactory explanation for this findings has not yet been arised. However, it could be possible that the margination of these populations regarding the health care system has been keeping them free of an infection largely linked worldwide to iatrogeny. Vaccination of Amerindian populations against hepatitis B should be taken as a priority of the health care programs. Moreover, such programs should consider the iatrogenic transmission of the HCV as a matter of concern regarding such populations, since parenterally transmitted hepatitis viruses seems to spread quickly among their members once they are introduced, giving rise to serious health problems.

Croatian Air Traffic in the Integration Process of the Countries of 21st Century Europe

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Sanja Steiner

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses the guidelines regarding air traffic developmentin Croatia within the context of integration processesof the European countries, which has been articulated bythe EATCHIP and EATMS project as a unique European airtraffic management. The positive projection of the developmentis based on the re-integration of the intemational airroutes (overflights with the Croatian interests from thegeotraffic aspect mostly overlapping with the interests ofSlovenia and Bosnia and He1zegovina. As conclusion, a conceptof common strategies of these countries is suggested, in requilingthe operationalisation of air conidors in this part of Europe.

Health care issues in Croatian elections 2005-2010: series of public opinion surveys.

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Radin, Dagmar; Dzakula, Aleksandar; Benkovic, Vanesa

2011-10-15

To compare the results of a series of public opinion surveys on experiences with the health care sector in Croatia conducted in the time of elections and to analyze whether political party affiliation had any influence on issues of priority ranking. The surveys were conducted during 2005, 2007, and 2009. They were administered through a Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing method to representative samples of Croatian population and were statistically weighted according to sex, age, level of education, and political party affiliation. The random sampling of the person within the household was done using the table of random numbers. Health and health care system was the most important issue (58%) during the 2007 parliamentary election and the second most important issue during the 2005 and 2009 elections (46% and 28%). In the 2007 election, health care was viewed as most important by women, respondents with lower education levels, and respondents with lower income. In 2005, the most important health care issues were corruption and lack of funding (45% and 43%, respectively), in 2007 poor organization and lack of funding (43% and 42%, respectively), and in 2009 lack of funding and corruption (51% and 45%, respectively). Health and health care system were consistently among the top two issues in all elections from 2005 to 2009. The top three most important health care sector issues were corruption, poor organization, and lack of funding. This indicates that political parties should include solutions to these issues in their health care policymaking.

Mortality and malnutrition among populations living in South Darfur, Sudan: results of 3 surveys, September 2004.

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Grandesso, Francesco; Sanderson, Frances; Kruijt, Jenneke; Koene, Ton; Brown, Vincent

2005-03-23

Mass violence against civilians in the west of Sudan has resulted in the displacement of more than 1.5 million people (25% of the population of the Darfur region). Most of these people are camped in 142 settlements. There has been increasing international concern about the health status of the displaced population. To perform rapid epidemiological assessments of mortality and nutritional status at 3 sites in South Darfur for relief efforts. In August and September 2004, mortality surveys were conducted among 137,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 3 sites in South Darfur (Kass [n = 900 households], Kalma [n = 893 households], and Muhajiria [n = 900 households]). A nutritional survey was performed concomitantly among children aged 6 to 59 months using weight for height as an index of acute malnutrition (Kass [n = 894], Kalma [n = 888], and Muhajiria [n = 896]). A questionnaire detailing access to food and basic services was administered to a subset of households (n = 210 in each site). Crude and under 5-year mortality rates and nutritional status of IDPs in Kass, Kalma, and Muhajiria, South Darfur. Crude mortality rates, expressed as deaths per 10,000 per day, were 3.2 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.2-4.1) in Kass, 2.0 (95% CI, 1.3-2.7) in Kalma, and 2.3 (95% CI, 1.2-3.4) in Muhajiria. Under 5-year mortality rates were 5.9 (95% CI, 3.8-8.0) in Kass, 3.5 (95% CI, 1.5-5.7) in Kalma, and 1.0 (95% CI, 0.03-1.9) in Muhajiria. During the period of displacement covered by our survey in Muhajiria, violence was reported to be responsible for 72% of deaths, mainly among young men. Diarrheal disease was reported to cause between 25% and 47% of deaths in camp residents and mainly affected the youngest and oldest age groups. Acute malnutrition was common, affecting 14.1% of the target population in Kass, 23.6% in Kalma, and 10.7% in Muhajiria. This study provides epidemiological evidence of the high rates of mortality and malnutrition among the displaced population in

Sickness absence indicating depressive symptoms of working population in South Korea.

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Shin, Cheolmin; Ko, Young-Hoon; Yoon, Seoyoung; Jeon, Sang Won; Pae, Chi-Un; Kim, Yong-Ku; Patkar, Ashwin A; Han, Changsu

2018-02-01

Sickness absence has been regarded as an important indicator of workers' health and work productivity. This study is aimed to evaluate the association between depressive symptoms and sickness absence in workers of South Korea. We used nationwide cross-sectional survey data from 2889 individuals in the working population aged over 19 years in South Korea. Depressive symptoms were measured using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Those respondents who scored above 10 on PHQ-9 were regarded as having depressive symptoms. Sickness absence was considered a binary variable with an absence of at least 1 day in the past month. The survey instrument contained questions about sociodemographic factors, lifestyle, work-related factors, and chronic illnesses. Logistic regression models were used to find odds ratios and confidence intervals. The prevalence of sickness absence was found to be overall 4.6%. The adjusted odds ratio of sickness absence with depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 score ≥ 10) was 3.63 (Confidence Interval: 2.13-6.20) after controlling of possible confounders. Compared to minimal depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 sickness absences were more significant. The sickness absence based on the memory of the respondent in this study may result in a recall bias. Incidence of at least 1 day of sickness absence per month increased the risk of depressive symptoms after controlling for the possible confounding factors in general working population. It may be necessary to consider strategies for assessing depression in the workers who take sick leaves. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genetic Diversity Analysis of Elops machnata (Forskal Populations in South East and West Coasts of India Using RAPD Markers

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Vellaichamy RAMANADEVI

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD technique was used to study the genetic diversity of four Elops machnata populations in South India. Elops machnata is considered as a least concern species (LC, categorized by the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN. The population trends are currently stable in Indian Ocean, Eastern Africa, but are unknown throughout the rest of its expansive range, especially in Indian estuaries. Among the ten RAPD primers tested, eight primers got amplified and gave scorable bands. In total, 119 scorable bands were observed in all populations. The overall observed and effective number of alleles was found to be 2.000 ± 0.000 and 1.5307 ± 0.2503 respectively for the entire population. The overall polymorphic loci were 61.00% and the overall gene flow among the four populations was predicted to 0.1032. The genetic distance and geographic distance between the four populations showed a positive correlation. The highest genetic similarity (0.6824 was found between Parangipettai and Muthupettai population, which reflected the geographical relationship between them. Tow main clusters were obtained based on UPGMA dendrogram. This study proves that RAPD analysis has the ability to discriminate E. machnata populations in South Indian coastal waters.

Genetic testing of canine degenerative myelopathy in the South African Boxer dog population

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Gareth E. Zeiler

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Canine degenerative myelopathy (DM is a progressive disease process that is diagnosed late in life and mainly affects the pelvic limbs. Factors that make an ante-mortem definitive diagnosis of DM include: an insidious onset and clinical manifestation that mimics other disease processes of the pelvic limbs (hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament rupture, etc. or there may even be concurrent disease processes, old-age onset and lack of reliable diagnostic methods. Until recently, South African dog owners had to submit samples to laboratories overseas for genetic testing in order to confirm an affected dog (homozygous A/A and to aid in the ante-mortem diagnosis of DM. Only affected dogs have been confirmed to manifest the clinical signs of DM. This study aimed to verify whether genetic testing by a local genetic laboratory was possible in order to detect a missense mutation of the superoxide dismutase gene (SOD1 that is implicated in causing the clinical signs of DM. The study also aimed to detect and map the inheritance of this disease process in a local Boxer dog population where the pedigree of the sampled population was known. Venous blood collected from Boxer dogs using a simple random sampling technique. The samples were genotyped for the SOD1:c.118G>A polymorphism. Carrier and affected Boxer dogs were detected. A pedigree that demonstrated the significance of inheriting a carrier or affected state in the population was mapped. The present study concludes that genotyping of the missense mutation in Boxer dogs is possible in South Africa. There are carrier and affected Boxer dogs in the local population, making DM a plausible diagnosis in aged dogs presenting with pelvic limb pathology.

Zagreb Conference on English Contrastive Projects, 7-9 December 1970. Papers and Discussion. Studies 4. The Yugoslav Serbo-Croatian-English Contrastive Project.

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Filipovic, Rudolf, Ed.

The fourth volume in this series contains the papers presented at the Zagreb Conference on English Contrastive Projects. They are: "Recent Center Activities in Contrastive Linguistics," by William Nemser; "The Yugoslav Serbo-Croatian-English Contrastive Project So Far," by Rudolf Filipovic; "The Poznan Polish-English Contrastive Project," by Jacek…

Subsidies in Croatian agriculture and adjustment to the EU

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Ramona Franić

2005-08-01

Full Text Available After the Croatian independence and re-adoption of the free trade principles, in political debates agriculture got the role of one of the basic pillar in economic development. There is intention to protect domestic agriculture against much more developed western European agriculture and to support its competitiveness, respecting at the same time the requirements of the international trade agreements asking for decreasing domestic protection. The reform of agricultural price policy started in 1988, due to the trade policy reform within the requirements imposed by the membership in the World Trade Organization. Recent changes from 2003 tend to simplify the system of agricultural support and to equalize the level of incentives. Together with existing production subsidies, new models of income support, capital investments and rural development are introduced. The reform predicts harmonization of domestic agricultural policy measures with those conducted or should be conducted in the EU. It means the shift from the old way of supporting European agricultural markets, toward incentives for European farmer, in the way that in total support prevails income, and not production support.

Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krajcar Bronic, I.; Miljanic, S.; Obelic, B.

2003-01-01

Croatian Radiation Protection Association (CRPA) organised symposium with international participation. Co-organisers (Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia and Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia) show importance of this symposium, which was under the auspices of several ministries (Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Physical Planning, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Croatia) and State Office for Standardization and Metrology. All topics are of great interest for Croatia. They present recent researches in Croatia and in other almost same oriented countries in Europe.The distribution of topics at the Fifth symposium shows same parts with articles from radioecology and radon, biological and medical topics, as well as professional and public exposure and dosimetry. Also, non-ionising radiations take its share as very interesting topics at present. (S.P.)

Genetic polymorphisms of multidrug and toxin extrusion proteins (MATE1 and MATE2 in South Indian population

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Gerard Marshall Raj

2017-02-01

Conclusion: Thus, the allele and genotype distributions of SLC47A1 and SLC47A2 gene polymorphisms were established in South Indian population and were found to be different from the frequencies of other ethnicities.

A model of population dynamics of TB in a prison system and application to South Africa

OpenAIRE

Witbooi, Peter; Vyambwera, Sibaliwe Maku

2017-01-01

Background Tuberculosis (TB) continues to spread in South African prisons in particular, as prisons are over-capacitated and have poor ventilation. The awaiting trial detainees are not screened on admission and are at high risk of getting infected with TB. Results We propose a compartmental model to describe the population dynamics of TB disease in prisons. Our model considers the inflow of susceptible, exposed and TB infectives into the prison population. Removal of individuals out of the pr...

An Alternative Policy Proposal for the Provinces Populated by the Malay Ethnonationality in the South of Thailand

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Otto F. von Feigenblatt

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This article provides a public policy analysis of governance in the provinces populated by the Malay ethnonationality in the South of Thailand. Important stakeholders are identified as well as important sociopolitical environmental factors. The final sections of the paper present a proposal for a new governance structure for the Muslim South of Thailand taking into consideration the social, cultural, and economic context as well as the wellbeing and right to self-determination of the local population. This study concludes that considerable economic, political, and social opportunities for development are being lost in the South of Thailand due to misguided governance policies. --- Dieser Artikel stellt eine politische Analyse von Governance in den von der nationalen Minderheit der Malaien bewohnten Provinzen in Südthailand vor. Zunächst werden zentrale InteressensvertreterInnen und soziopolitische Faktoren identifiziert. Anschließend diskutiert der Autor einen Vorschlag für eine neue Governancestruktur, die soziale, kulturelle und wirtschaftliche Kontexte ebenso beachtet wie die Bedürfnisse und das Recht zur Selbstbestimmung der lokalen Bevölkerung. Der Beitrag konkludiert, dass beträchtliche Möglichkeiten zur wirtschaftlichen, politischen und sozialen Entwicklung aufgrund von fehlgeleiteten Politiken ausgelassen wurden.

Chemometric Analysis of High Molecular Mass Glutenin Subunits and Image Data of Bread Crumb Structure from Croatian Wheat Cultivars

OpenAIRE

Zorica Jurković; Rezica Sudar; Damir Magdić; Daniela Horvat; Želimir Kurtanjek

2002-01-01

The aim of this work is to investigate functional relationships among wheat properties, high molecular mass (weight) (HMW) glutenin subunits and bread quality produced from eleven Croatian wheat cultivars by chemometric analysis. HMW glutenin subunits were fractionated by sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamid gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and subsequently analysed by scanning densitometry in order to quantify HMW glutenin fractions. Wheat properties are characterised by four variables: protein...

Firearm and nonfirearm homicide in 5 South African cities: a retrospective population-based study.

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Matzopoulos, Richard G; Thompson, Mary Lou; Myers, Jonathan E

2014-03-01

We assessed the effectiveness of South Africa's Firearm Control Act (FCA), passed in 2000, on firearm homicide rates compared with rates of nonfirearm homicide across 5 South African cities from 2001 to 2005. We conducted a retrospective population-based study of 37 067 firearm and nonfirearm homicide cases. Generalized linear models helped estimate and compare time trends of firearm and nonfirearm homicides, adjusting for age, sex, race, day of week, city, year of death, and population size. There was a statistically significant decreasing trend regarding firearm homicides from 2001, with an adjusted year-on-year homicide rate ratio of 0.864 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.848, 0.880), representing a decrease of 13.6% per annum. The year-on-year decrease in nonfirearm homicide rates was also significant, but considerably lower at 0.976 (95% CI = 0.954, 0.997). Results suggest that 4585 (95% CI = 4427, 4723) lives were saved across 5 cities from 2001 to 2005 because of the FCA. Strength, timing and consistent decline suggest stricter gun control mediated by the FCA accounted for a significant decrease in homicide overall, and firearm homicide in particular, during the study period.

Does small equal predatory? Analysis of publication charges and transparency of editorial policies in Croatian open access journals.

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Stojanovski, Jadranka; Marušić, Ana

2017-06-15

We approach the problem of "predatory" journals and publishers from the perspective of small scientific communities and small journals that may sometimes be perceived as "predatory". Among other characteristics of "predatory" journals two most relevant are their business model and the quality of the editorial work. We analysed 444 Croatian open access (OA) journals in the Hrčak (portal of Croatian scientific journals) digital journal repository for the presence of article processing charges as a business model and the transparency of editorial policies. The majority of journals do not charge authors or require submission or article processing charges, which clearly distinguishes them from "predatory" journals. Almost all Hrčak OA journals have publicly available information on editorial boards, including full names and affiliations, and detailed contact information for the editorial office at the Hrčak website. The journal names are unique and cannot be easily confused with another journal or intend to mislead about the journal's origin. While most journals provide information on peer review process, many do not provide guidelines for reviewers or other editorial and publication ethics standards. In order to clearly differentiate themselves from predatory journals, it is not enough for journals from small research communities to operate on non-commercial bases, but also to have transparent editorial policies.

Extent of linkage disequilibrium and effective population size in four South African Sanga cattle breeds

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Sithembile Olga Makina

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Knowledge on the extent of linkage disequilibrium (LD in livestock populations is essential to determine the minimum distance between markers required for effective coverage when conducting genome-wide association studies. This study evaluated the extent of LD, persistence of allelic phase and effective population size (Ne for four Sanga cattle breeds in South Africa including the Afrikaner (n=44, Nguni (n=54, Drakensberger (n=47 and Bonsmara breeds (n=46, using Angus (n=31 and Holstein (n=29 as reference populations. We found that moderate LD extends up to inter-marker distances of 40-60 kb in Angus (0.21 and Holstein (0.21 and up to 100 kb in Afrikaner (0.20. This suggests that genomic selection and association studies performed within these breeds using an average inter-marker r2 ≥ 0.20 would require about 30,000 -50,000 SNPs. However, r2 ≥ 0.20 extended only up to 10-20 kb in the Nguni and Drakensberger and 20-40 kb in the Bonsmara indicating that 75,000 to 150,000 SNPs would be necessary for genome-wide association studies in these breeds. Correlation between alleles at contiguous loci indicated that phase was not strongly preserved between breeds. This suggests the need for breed-specific reference populations in which a much greater density of markers should be scored to identify breed specific haplotypes which may then be imputed into multi-breed commercial populations. Analysis of effective population size based on the extent of LD, revealed Ne=95 (Nguni, Ne=87 (Drakensberger, Ne=77 (Bonsmara and Ne=41 (Afrikaner. Results of this study form the basis for implementation of genomic selection programs in the Sanga breeds of South Africa.

Ethnic Differences in Mental Illness Severity: A Population-Based Study of Chinese and South Asian Patients in Ontario, Canada.

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Chiu, Maria; Lebenbaum, Michael; Newman, Alice M; Zaheer, Juveria; Kurdyak, Paul

2016-09-01

Little is known about the sociocultural determinants of mental illness at hospital presentation. Our objective was to examine ethnic differences in illness severity at hospital admission among Chinese, South Asian, and the general population living in Ontario, Canada. We conducted a large, population-based, cross-sectional study of psychiatric inpatients aged from 19 to 105 years who were discharged between 2006 and 2014. A total of 133,588 patients were classified as Chinese (n = 2,582), South Asian (n = 2,452), or the reference group (n = 128,554) using a validated surnames algorithm (specificity: 99.7%). Diagnoses were based on DSM-IV criteria. We examined the association between ethnicity and 4 measures of disease severity: involuntary admissions, aggressive behaviors, and the number and frequency of positive symptoms (ie, hallucinations, command hallucinations, delusions, and abnormal thought process) (Positive Symptoms Scale, Resident Assessment Instrument-Mental Health [RAI-MH]). After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, immigration status, and discharge diagnosis, Chinese patients had greater odds of involuntary admissions (odds ratio [OR] = 1.79; 95% CI, 1.64-1.95) and exhibiting severe aggressive behaviors (OR = 1.36; 95% CI, 1.23-1.51) and ≥ 3 positive symptoms (OR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.24-1.56) compared to the general population. South Asian ethnicity was also an independent predictor of most illness severity measures. The association between Chinese ethnicity and illness severity was consistent across sex, diagnostic and immigrant categories, and first-episode hospitalization. Chinese and South Asian ethnicities are independent predictors of illness severity at hospital presentation. Understanding the role of patient, family, and health system factors in determining the threshold for hospitalization is an important future step in informing culturally specific care for these large and growing populations worldwide. © Copyright 2016 Physicians

Capillary blood sampling: national recommendations on behalf of the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine.

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Krleza, Jasna Lenicek; Dorotic, Adrijana; Grzunov, Ana; Maradin, Miljenka

2015-01-01

Capillary blood sampling is a medical procedure aimed at assisting in patient diagnosis, management and treatment, and is increasingly used worldwide, in part because of the increasing availability of point-of-care testing. It is also frequently used to obtain small blood volumes for laboratory testing because it minimizes pain. The capillary blood sampling procedure can influence the quality of the sample as well as the accuracy of test results, highlighting the need for immediate, widespread standardization. A recent nationwide survey of policies and practices related to capillary blood sampling in medical laboratories in Croatia has shown that capillary sampling procedures are not standardized and that only a small proportion of Croatian laboratories comply with guidelines from the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) or the World Health Organization (WHO). The aim of this document is to provide recommendations for capillary blood sampling. This document has been produced by the Working Group for Capillary Blood Sampling within the Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine. Our recommendations are based on existing available standards and recommendations (WHO Best Practices in Phlebotomy, CLSI GP42-A6 and CLSI C46-A2), which have been modified based on local logistical, cultural, legal and regulatory requirements. We hope that these recommendations will be a useful contribution to the standardization of capillary blood sampling in Croatia.

Population structure analyses of Staphylococcus aureus at Tygerberg Hospital, South Africa, reveals a diverse population, a high prevalence of Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes, and unique local methicillin-resistant S. aureus clones

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Oosthuysen, W. F.; Orth, H.; Lombard, C. J.; Sinha, B.; Wasserman, E.

Studies reporting on the population structure of Staphylococcus aureus in South Africa have focused only on methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). This study describes the population structure of S. aureus, including methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolated from patients at Tygerberg

Mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence variations and population structure of Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus) in Northeastern Asia and population substructure in South Korea.

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Lee, Mu-Yeong; Lissovsky, Andrey A; Park, Sun-Kyung; Obolenskaya, Ekaterina V; Dokuchaev, Nikolay E; Zhang, Ya-Ping; Yu, Li; Kim, Young-Jun; Voloshina, Inna; Myslenkov, Alexander; Choi, Tae-Young; Min, Mi-Sook; Lee, Hang

2008-12-31

Twenty-five chipmunk species occur in the world, of which only the Siberian chipmunk, Tamias sibiricus, inhabits Asia. To investigate mitochondrial cytochrome b sequence variations and population structure of the Siberian chipmunk in northeastern Asia, we examined mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences (1140 bp) from 3 countries. Analyses of 41 individuals from South Korea and 33 individuals from Russia and northeast China resulted in 37 haplotypes and 27 haplotypes, respectively. There were no shared haplotypes between South Korea and Russia--northeast China. Phylogenetic trees and network analysis showed 2 major maternal lineages for haplotypes, referred to as the S and R lineages. Haplotype grouping in each cluster was nearly coincident with its geographic affinity. In particular, 3 distinct groups were found that mostly clustered in the northern, central and southern parts of South Korea. Nucleotide diversity of the S lineage was twice that of lineage R. The divergence between S and R lineages was estimated to be 2.98-0.98 Myr. During the ice age, there may have been at least 2 refuges in South Korea and Russia--northeast China. The sequence variation between the S and R lineages was 11.3% (K2P), which is indicative of specific recognition in rodents. These results suggest that T. sibiricus from South Korea could be considered a separate species. However, additional information, such as details of distribution, nuclear genes data or morphology, is required to strengthen this hypothesis.

Marine foraging and annual fish consumption of a south polar Skua population in the maritime Antarctic

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Hahn, S.M.; Ritz, M.S.; Reinhardt, K.

2008-01-01

Pelagic fish are an important component of Antarctic food webs but few quantitative data exist on energy transfer from fish to seabirds for the Seasonal Pack-ice Zone. We studied a local population of south polar, skuas Catharacta maccormicki during a whole breeding cycle and estimated its entire

A COMPARISON OF BASIC AND EXTENDED MARKOWITZ MODEL ON CROATIAN CAPITAL MARKET

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Bruna Škarica

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Markowitz' mean - variance model for portfolio selection, first introduced in H.M. Markowitz' 1952 article, is one of the best known models in finance. However, the Markowitz model is based on many assumptions about financial markets and investors, which do not coincide with the real world. One of these assumptions is that there are no taxes or transaction costs, when in reality all financial products are subject to both taxes and transaction costs – such as brokerage fees. In this paper, we consider an extension of the standard portfolio problem which includes transaction costs that arise when constructing an investment portfolio. Finally, we compare both the extension of the Markowitz' model, including transaction costs, and the basic model on the example of the Croatian capital market.

Antiphytoviral Activity of Sesquiterpene-Rich Essential Oils from Four Croatian Teucrium Species

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Franko Burčul

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to compare the essential oil profiles of four Croatian Teucrium species (Lamiaceae, as determined by GC and GC/MS, with their antiphytoviral efficiency. A phytochemical analysis showed that T. polium, T. flavum, T. montanum and T. chamaedrys are characterized by similar essential oil compositions. The investigated oils are characterized by a high proportion of the sesquiterpene hydrocarbons β-caryophyllene (7.1–52.0% and germacrene D (8.7–17.0%. Other important components were β-pinene from T. montanum and α-pinene from T. flavum. The investigated essential oils were proved to reduce lesion number in the local host Chenopodium quinoa Willd. infected with Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV, with reductions of 41.4%, 22.9%, 44.3% and 25.7%, respectively.

Population Growth and Sprawl on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota

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Campbell, R. L.

2006-05-01

The most important impact on global land cover is human use and development. With the recent population growth occurring on the reservations in South Dakota, especially Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the towns and agricultural areas of the reservation are undergoing a change. Although urban sprawl certainly is not a consideration on the reservations, the population explosion currently underway has seen a subsequent increase in rural sprawl. In this case, rural sprawl is defined as exponential population growth and geographic expansion of remote reservation communities. Using satellite imagery and software to render these images is a cost effective way to investigate this growth. Also, using remotely sensed data and a GIS (geographic information system) package can address different issues that concern people and communities in and around the Pine Ridge area. The objective of my project is to observe land use change on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation using Geographic Information Systems such as; ARCGis 9, ENVI, and Multispec, along with Landsat 4, 5, and 7 imagery over the past 20 years.

Work-related stress and work ability among Croatian university hospital midwives.

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Knezevic, Bojana; Milosevic, Milan; Golubic, Rajna; Belosevic, Ljiljana; Russo, Andrea; Mustajbegovic, Jadranka

2011-04-01

to explore the sources and levels of stress at work and work ability among Croatian midwives. midwives are subjected to multiple stressors. Among health-care professionals, psychological distress for a prolonged period of time has negative effects on the worker's health, work ability and quality of patient care. 'Work ability' is a term describing a worker's resources related to physical, mental and social demands at work. As a measure of work ability in midwifery, the Work Ability Index (WAI) is considered to be a very predictive instrument; midwives with a poor WAI score usually leave their current job within five years. university hospitals in Zagreb, Croatia. cross-sectional design survey. 300 health-care workers (105 qualified midwives and 195 paediatric nurses) were invited to complete the questionnaire. The total response rate was 53% (158/300). The sample included 14.7% of all hospital-based midwives in Zagreb hospitals. the Occupational Stress Assessment Questionnaire (OSAQ) for health-care workers and the WAI questionnaire. over three-quarters of the midwives (46/60, 76.7%) believed that their job was stressful, and considered that insufficient work resources caused the most stress. More than half of the midwives associated an insufficient number of coworkers, unexpected situations, inadequate income, night work, incurable patients and poor organisation at work with a high level of stress. The perceived specific stressors differed between midwives and paediatric nurses in the same hospital. Insufficient work resources and poor organisation at work were more common stressors among midwives than paediatric nurses (pworkplace compared with paediatric nurses (pability. After adjusting for age, the difference in WAI score between the groups of workers was not significant. Croatian midwives experienced work-related stress due to: insufficient work resources, insufficient number of coworkers, poor organisation at work, communication with superiors and emotional

Fragile X founder effect and distribution of CGG repeats among the mentally retarded population of Andalusia, South Spain

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Yolanda de Diego

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Fragile X syndrome is the most common inherited form of mental retardation. We investigated the prevalence of the Fragile X syndrome in the population with mental retardation of unknown etiology in Andalusia, South Spain. We analyzed 322 unrelated patients (280 males and 42 females, and found a fragile X syndrome frequency of 6.5%. Among the non-fragile X chromosomes, the 29 CGG repeat was the most common allele. At the linked microsatellite DXS548 locus, we found a new allele which we called "allele 10" (17 CA. Similar to other south European populations, allele 2 (25 CA at the DXS548 locus and the fragile X allele were in linkage disequilibrium supporting the idea of a common founder chromosome predisposing to the CGG expansion.

Cercospora zeina from Maize in South Africa Exhibits High Genetic Diversity and Lack of Regional Population Differentiation.

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Muller, Mischa F; Barnes, Irene; Kunene, Ncobile T; Crampton, Bridget G; Bluhm, Burton H; Phillips, Sonia M; Olivier, Nicholas A; Berger, Dave K

2016-10-01

South Africa is one of the leading maize-producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Since the 1980s, Cercospora zeina, a causal agent of gray leaf spot of maize, has become endemic in South Africa, and is responsible for substantial yield reductions. To assess genetic diversity and population structure of C. zeina in South Africa, 369 isolates were collected from commercial maize farms in three provinces (KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, and North West). These isolates were evaluated with 14 microsatellite markers and species-specific mating type markers that were designed from draft genome sequences of C. zeina isolates from Africa (CMW 25467) and the United States (USPA-4). Sixty alleles were identified across 14 loci, and gene diversity values within each province ranged from 0.18 to 0.35. High levels of gene flow were observed (Nm = 5.51), and in a few cases, identical multilocus haplotypes were found in different provinces. Overall, 242 unique multilocus haplotypes were identified with a low clonal fraction of 34%. No distinct population clusters were identified using STRUCTURE, principal coordinate analysis, or Weir's theta θ statistic. The lack of population differentiation was supported by analysis of molecular variance tests, which indicated that only 2% of the variation was attributed to variability between populations from each province. Mating type ratios of MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 idiomorphs from 335 isolates were not significantly different from a 1:1 ratio in all provinces, which provided evidence for sexual reproduction. The draft genome of C. zeina CMW 25467 exhibited a complete genomic copy of the MAT1-1 idiomorph as well as exonic fragments of MAT genes from both idiomorphs. The high level of gene diversity, shared haplotypes at different geographical locations within South Africa, and presence of both MAT idiomorphs at all sites indicates widespread dispersal of C. zeina between maize fields in the country as well as evidence for sexual recombination. The

Estimating temporary and permanent stock price innovations on Croatian capital market

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Tihana Škrinjarić

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This paper evaluates the size and duration of temporary and permanent stock price innovations on Croatian capital market in the structural VAR (vector autoregression framework with Blanchard and Quah (1989 decomposition. The purpose is to identify the effects of temporary price innovations in order to determine to which extent future stock prices can be predicted. Temporary components present in stock prices are explained throughout the mean-reversion hypothesis. This means that stock prices deviate from the fundamental values, but they will revert to their mean. In that way, to some extent, it is possible to predict future price movements. The results show that for the observed period from January 2000 to September 2013, temporary innovations account for only 2.62% of price variability over a two-year horizon. This means that forecasting the future movements of stock prices on Zagreb Stock Exchange is a difficult task.

Genetic structure of South African Nguni (Zulu) sheep populations reveals admixture with exotic breeds.

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Selepe, Mokhethi Matthews; Ceccobelli, Simone; Lasagna, Emiliano; Kunene, Nokuthula Winfred

2018-01-01

The population of Zulu sheep is reported to have declined by 7.4% between 2007 and 2011 due to crossbreeding. There is insufficient information on the genetic diversity of the Zulu sheep populations in the different area of KwaZulu Natal where they are reared. The study investigated genetic variation and genetic structure within and among eight Zulu sheep populations using 26 microsatellite markers. In addition, Damara, Dorper and South African Merino breeds were included to assess the genetic relationship between these breeds and the Zulu sheep. The results showed that there is considerable genetic diversity among the Zulu sheep populations (expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.57 to 0.69) and the level of inbreeding was not remarkable. The structure analysis results revealed that Makhathini Research Station and UNIZULU research station share common genetic structure, while three populations (Nongoma, Ulundi and Nquthu) had some admixture with the exotic Dorper breed. Thus, there is a need for sustainable breeding and conservation programmes to control the gene flow, in order to stop possible genetic dilution of the Zulu sheep.

Genetic structure of South African Nguni (Zulu sheep populations reveals admixture with exotic breeds.

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Mokhethi Matthews Selepe

Full Text Available The population of Zulu sheep is reported to have declined by 7.4% between 2007 and 2011 due to crossbreeding. There is insufficient information on the genetic diversity of the Zulu sheep populations in the different area of KwaZulu Natal where they are reared. The study investigated genetic variation and genetic structure within and among eight Zulu sheep populations using 26 microsatellite markers. In addition, Damara, Dorper and South African Merino breeds were included to assess the genetic relationship between these breeds and the Zulu sheep. The results showed that there is considerable genetic diversity among the Zulu sheep populations (expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.57 to 0.69 and the level of inbreeding was not remarkable. The structure analysis results revealed that Makhathini Research Station and UNIZULU research station share common genetic structure, while three populations (Nongoma, Ulundi and Nquthu had some admixture with the exotic Dorper breed. Thus, there is a need for sustainable breeding and conservation programmes to control the gene flow, in order to stop possible genetic dilution of the Zulu sheep.

Characterization of the genetic variation present in CYP3A4 in three South African populations

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Britt Ingrid Drögemöller

2013-02-01

Full Text Available TThe CYP3A4 enzyme is the most abundant human cytochrome P450 and is regarded as the most important enzyme involved in drug metabolism. Inter-individual and inter-population variability in gene expression and enzyme activity are thought to be influenced, in part, by genetic variation. Although Southern African individuals have been shown to exhibit the highest levels of genetic diversity, they have been under-represented in pharmacogenetic research to date. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify genetic variation within CYP3A4 in three South African population groups comprising of 29 Khoisan, 65 Xhosa and 65 Mixed Ancestry individuals. To identify known and novel CYP3A4 variants, 15 individuals were randomly selected from each of the population groups for bi-directional Sanger sequencing of approximately 600 bp of the 5’-upstream region and all thirteen exons including flanking intronic regions. Genetic variants detected were genotyped in the rest of the cohort. In total, 24 SNPs were detected, including CYP3A4*12, CYP3A4*15, and the reportedly functional CYP3A4*1B promoter polymorphism, as well as two novel non-synonymous variants. These putatively functional variants, p.R162W and p.Q200H, were present in two of the three populations and all three populations, respectively, and in silico analysis predicted that the former would damage the protein product. Furthermore, the three populations were shown to exhibit distinct genetic profiles. These results confirm that South African populations show unique patterns of variation in the genes encoding xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes. This research suggests that population-specific genetic profiles for CYP3A4 and other drug metabolizing genes would be essential to make full use of pharmacogenetics in Southern Africa. Further investigation is needed to determine if the identified genetic variants influence CYP3A4 metabolism phenotype in these populations.

Characterization of the genetic variation present in CYP3A4 in three South African populations.

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Drögemöller, Britt; Plummer, Marieth; Korkie, Lundi; Agenbag, Gloudi; Dunaiski, Anke; Niehaus, Dana; Koen, Liezl; Gebhardt, Stefan; Schneider, Nicol; Olckers, Antonel; Wright, Galen; Warnich, Louise

2013-01-01

The CYP3A4 enzyme is the most abundant human cytochrome P450 (CYP) and is regarded as the most important enzyme involved in drug metabolism. Inter-individual and inter-population variability in gene expression and enzyme activity are thought to be influenced, in part, by genetic variation. Although Southern African individuals have been shown to exhibit the highest levels of genetic diversity, they have been under-represented in pharmacogenetic research to date. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify genetic variation within CYP3A4 in three South African population groups comprising of 29 Khoisan, 65 Xhosa and 65 Mixed Ancestry (MA) individuals. To identify known and novel CYP3A4 variants, 15 individuals were randomly selected from each of the population groups for bi-directional Sanger sequencing of ~600 bp of the 5'-upstream region and all thirteen exons including flanking intronic regions. Genetic variants detected were genotyped in the rest of the cohort. In total, 24 SNPs were detected, including CYP3A4(*)12, CYP3A4(*)15, and the reportedly functional CYP3A4(*)1B promoter polymorphism, as well as two novel non-synonymous variants. These putatively functional variants, p.R162W and p.Q200H, were present in two of the three populations and all three populations, respectively, and in silico analysis predicted that the former would damage the protein product. Furthermore, the three populations were shown to exhibit distinct genetic profiles. These results confirm that South African populations show unique patterns of variation in the genes encoding xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes. This research suggests that population-specific genetic profiles for CYP3A4 and other drug metabolizing genes would be essential to make full use of pharmacogenetics in Southern Africa. Further investigation is needed to determine if the identified genetic variants influence CYP3A4 metabolism phenotype in these populations.

Utility of the Croatian translation of the community integration questionnaire-revised in a sample of adults with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.

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Tršinski, Dubravko; Tadinac, Meri; Bakran, Žarko; Klepo, Ivana

2018-02-23

To examine the utility of the Community Integration Questionnaire-Revised, translated into Croatian, in a sample of adults with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. The Community Integration Questionnaire-Revised was administered to a sample of 88 adults with traumatic brain injury and to a control sample matched by gender, age and education. Participants with traumatic brain injury were divided into four subgroups according to injury severity. The internal consistency of the Community Integration Questionnaire-Revised was satisfactory. The differences between the group with traumatic brain injury and the control group were statistically significant for the overall Community Integration Questionnaire-Revised score, as well as for all the subscales apart from the Home Integration subscale. The community Integration Questionnaire-Revised score varied significantly for subgroups with different severity of traumatic brain injury. The results show that the Croatian translation of the Community Integration Questionnaire-Revised is useful in assessing participation in adults with traumatic brain injury and confirm previous findings that severity of injury predicts community integration. Results of the new Electronic Social Networking scale indicate that persons who are more active on electronic social networks report better results for other domains of community integration, especially social activities. Implications for rehabilitation The Croatian translation of the Community Integration Questionnaire-Revised is a valid tool for long-term assessment of participation in various domains in persons with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury Persons with traumatic brain injury who are more active in the use of electronic social networking are also more integrated into social and productivity domains. Targeted training in the use of new technologies could enhance participation after traumatic brain injury.

Prevalence of oral lichen planus in a rural population of south kerala - A pilot study

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V Vivek

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Oral lichen planus is a relatively common chronic inflammatory mucocutaneous disease which continues to challenge the dental professional with its wide spectrum of clinical involvement. This pilot study attempts to evaluate the status of oral lichen planus in a rural population from South Kerala in order to obtain such data as prevalence, distribution according to age, gender, clinical types and site of lesion .A drop in the age group of male population presenting with lichen planus was a significant finding in our study. However, more elaborate epidemiologic studies are required to probe further into this finding.

Is Yessotoxin the Main Phycotoxin in Croatian Waters?

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Živana Ninčević Gladan

2010-03-01

Full Text Available With the aim of investigating whether yessotoxin (YTX is responsible for diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP events in Croatian waters, three different methods were combined: a modified mouse bioassay (MBA that discriminates YTX from other DSP toxins, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method (ELISA and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS. Among 453 samples of mussels and seawater analyzed in 2007, 10 samples were DSP positive. Results obtained by the modified MBA method revealed that most of the samples were positive for YTX, with the exception of samples from Lim Bay (LB 1 The ELISA method also identified the presence of YTX in these samples. DSP toxin profiles showed the presence of okadaic acid (OA in three, and YTX in four out of nine samples that were analyzed by LC-MS/MS. The phytoplankton community structure pattern revealed Lingulodinium polyedrum (Stein Dodge, which was present in the water prior to and/or during toxicity events at low concentrations (80 to 1440 cells L-1, as a potential YTX producing species. It is proposed that L. polyedrum cells accumulated in mussels and the subsequently observed toxicity may be related to metabolism after ingestion, resulting in carboxy YTX as the major analog in the mussel.

Health care issues in Croatian elections 2005-2009: series of public opinion surveys

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Radin, Dagmar; Džakula, Aleksandar; Benković, Vanesa

2011-01-01

Aim To compare the results of a series of public opinion surveys on experiences with the health care sector in Croatia conducted in the time of elections and to analyze whether political party affiliation had any influence on issues of priority ranking. Methods The surveys were conducted during 2005, 2007, and 2009. They were administered through a Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing method to representative samples of Croatian population and were statistically weighted according to sex, age, level of education, and political party affiliation. The random sampling of the person within the household was done using the table of random numbers. Results Health and health care system was the most important issue (58%) during the 2007 parliamentary election and the second most important issue during the 2005 and 2009 elections (46% and 28%). In the 2007 election, health care was viewed as most important by women, respondents with lower education levels, and respondents with lower income. In 2005, the most important health care issues were corruption and lack of funding (45% and 43%, respectively), in 2007 poor organization and lack of funding (43% and 42%, respectively), and in 2009 lack of funding and corruption (51% and 45%, respectively). Conclusion Health and health care system were consistently among the top two issues in all elections from 2005 to 2009. The top three most important health care sector issues were corruption, poor organization, and lack of funding. This indicates that political parties should include solutions to these issues in their health care policymaking. PMID:21990075

Ancient female philopatry, asymmetric male gene flow, and synchronous population expansion support the influence of climatic oscillations on the evolution of South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens.

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Larissa Rosa de Oliveira

Full Text Available The South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens is widely distributed along the southern Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America with a history of significant commercial exploitation. We aimed to evaluate the population genetic structure and the evolutionary history of South American sea lion along its distribution by analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and 10 nuclear microsatellites loci. We analyzed 147 sequences of mtDNA control region and genotyped 111 individuals of South American sea lion for 10 microsatellite loci, representing six populations (Peru, Northern Chile, Southern Chile, Uruguay (Brazil, Argentina and Falkland (Malvinas Islands and covering the entire distribution of the species. The mtDNA phylogeny shows that haplotypes from the two oceans comprise two very divergent clades as observed in previous studies, suggesting a long period (>1 million years of low inter-oceanic female gene flow. Bayesian analysis of bi-parental genetic diversity supports significant (but less pronounced than mitochondrial genetic structure between Pacific and Atlantic populations, although also suggested some inter-oceanic gene flow mediated by males. Higher male migration rates were found in the intra-oceanic population comparisons, supporting very high female philopatry in the species. Demographic analyses showed that populations from both oceans went through a large population expansion ~10,000 years ago, suggesting a very similar influence of historical environmental factors, such as the last glacial cycle, on both regions. Our results support the proposition that the Pacific and Atlantic populations of the South American sea lion should be considered distinct evolutionarily significant units, with at least two managements units in each ocean.

Ancient female philopatry, asymmetric male gene flow, and synchronous population expansion support the influence of climatic oscillations on the evolution of South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens)

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Gehara, Marcelo C. M.; Fraga, Lúcia D.; Lopes, Fernando; Túnez, Juan Ignacio; Cassini, Marcelo H.; Majluf, Patricia; Cárdenas-Alayza, Susana; Pavés, Héctor J.; Crespo, Enrique Alberto; García, Nestor; Loizaga de Castro, Rocío; Hoelzel, A. Rus; Sepúlveda, Maritza; Olavarría, Carlos; Valiati, Victor Hugo; Quiñones, Renato; Pérez-Alvarez, Maria Jose; Ott, Paulo Henrique

2017-01-01

The South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) is widely distributed along the southern Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America with a history of significant commercial exploitation. We aimed to evaluate the population genetic structure and the evolutionary history of South American sea lion along its distribution by analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and 10 nuclear microsatellites loci. We analyzed 147 sequences of mtDNA control region and genotyped 111 individuals of South American sea lion for 10 microsatellite loci, representing six populations (Peru, Northern Chile, Southern Chile, Uruguay (Brazil), Argentina and Falkland (Malvinas) Islands) and covering the entire distribution of the species. The mtDNA phylogeny shows that haplotypes from the two oceans comprise two very divergent clades as observed in previous studies, suggesting a long period (>1 million years) of low inter-oceanic female gene flow. Bayesian analysis of bi-parental genetic diversity supports significant (but less pronounced than mitochondrial) genetic structure between Pacific and Atlantic populations, although also suggested some inter-oceanic gene flow mediated by males. Higher male migration rates were found in the intra-oceanic population comparisons, supporting very high female philopatry in the species. Demographic analyses showed that populations from both oceans went through a large population expansion ~10,000 years ago, suggesting a very similar influence of historical environmental factors, such as the last glacial cycle, on both regions. Our results support the proposition that the Pacific and Atlantic populations of the South American sea lion should be considered distinct evolutionarily significant units, with at least two managements units in each ocean. PMID:28654647

Paleopathological Study of Dwarfism-Related Skeletal Dysplasia in a Late Joseon Dynasty (South Korean) Population

OpenAIRE

Woo, Eun Jin; Lee, Won-Joon; Hu, Kyung-Seok; Hwang, Jae Joon

2015-01-01

Skeletal dysplasias related to genetic etiologies have rarely been reported for past populations. This report presents the skeletal characteristics of an individual with dwarfism-related skeletal dysplasia from South Korea. To assess abnormal deformities, morphological features, metric data, and computed tomography scans are analyzed. Differential diagnoses include achondroplasia or hypochondroplasia, chondrodysplasia, multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, thalassemia-related hemolytic anemia, and l...

Population uptake of antiretroviral treatment through primary care in rural South Africa

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Bärnighausen Till W

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background KwaZulu-Natal is the South African province worst affected by HIV and the focus of early modeling studies investigating strategies of antiretroviral treatment (ART delivery. The reality of antiretroviral roll-out through primary care has differed from that anticipated and real world data are needed to inform the planning of further scaling up of services. We investigated the factors associated with uptake of antiretroviral treatment through a primary healthcare system in rural South Africa. Methods Detailed demographic, HIV surveillance and geographic information system (GIS data were used to estimate the proportion of HIV positive adults accessing antiretroviral treatment within northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in the period from initiation of antiretroviral roll-out until the end of 2008. Demographic, spatial and socioeconomic factors influencing the likelihood of individuals accessing antiretroviral treatment were explored using multivariable analysis. Results Mean uptake of ART among HIV positive resident adults was 21.0% (95%CI 20.1-21.9. Uptake among HIV positive men (19.2% was slightly lower than women (21.8%, P = 0.011. An individual's likelihood of accessing ART was not associated with level of education, household assets or urban/rural locale. ART uptake was strongly negatively associated with distance from the nearest primary healthcare facility (aOR = 0.728 per square-root transformed km, 95%CI 0.658-0.963, P = 0.002. Conclusions Despite concerns about the equitable nature of antiretroviral treatment rollout, we find very few differences in ART uptake across a range of socio-demographic variables in a rural South African population. However, even when socio-demographic factors were taken into account, individuals living further away from primary healthcare clinics were still significantly less likely to be accessing ART

Malaria prophylaxis - the South African viewpoint | Baker | South ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A consensus meeting was held under the auspices of the Department of National Health and Population Development in September 1991 in order to establish local, current consensus on malaria prophylaxis for the South African traveller within South Africa and neighbouring African countries. The meeting was attended by ...

Diversity and effective population size of four horse breeds from microsatellite DNA markers in South-Central Mexico

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J. F. Vázquez-Armijo

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The South-Central region of Mexico has experienced a sizeable introduction of purebred horses for recreational aims. A study was designed to assess effective population sizes and genetic diversity and to verify the genetic integrity of four horse breeds. Using a 12-microsatellite panel, Quarter Horse, Azteca, Thoroughbred and Creole (CRL horses were sampled and analysed for diversity and genetic structure. Genetic diversity parameters showed high numbers of heterozygous horses but small effective population sizes in all breeds. Population structure results suggested some degree of admixture of CRL with the other reference breeds. The highly informative microsatellite panel allowed the verification of diversity in introduced horse populations and the confirmation of small effective population sizes, which suggests a risk for future breed integrity.

Masticatory muscle and temporomandibular joint pain in Croatian war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Uhac, Ivone; Tariba, Petra; Kovac, Zoran; Simonić-Kocijan, Suncana; Lajnert, Vlatka; Mesić, Vesna Fugosić; Kuis, Davor; Braut, Vedrana

2011-12-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and intensity of masticatory muscle and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain in Croatian war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The examined group consisted of 100 Croatian war veterans, in whom PTSD had previously been diagnosed. Patients were compared with 92 subjects who had not taken part in the war and in whom PTSD was excluded by psychiatric examination. The clinical examination consisted of palpation of the masticatory muscles, the prominent neck musculature, and TMJ. The examination technique used and the definition of items were previously tested for reliability and validity. 93% of the subjects with PTSD had masticatory muscle tenderness compared to 45.65% of the subjects in the control group (chi2 = 51.46, p < 0.0001). The most frequent painful location in the subjects with PTSD was the left lateral pterygoid site in 88%, and in subjects of the control group the right lateral pterygoid site in 28.26% of cases. The most painful location in the PTSD group was the left lateral pterygoid site in 72%, and in the control group the left posterior digastric in 4.35% of cases. 58% of the subjects with PTSD had TMJ tenderness compared to 3.26% of subjects in the control group (chi2 = 66.23, p < 0.0001). The most frequent painful location of TMJ in both groups was the left posterior capsule; in the PTSD group 38% and in subjects in the control group 2.17% of cases. The most painful location was the left posterior capsule in 28% of subjects with PTSD, while not one subject in the control group reported severe painful sensitivity. The very high frequency and intensity of pain in subjects with PTSD confirms the effect of stress on muscle and joint sensitivity, i.e. perception of pain.

Population and antenatal-based HIV prevalence estimates in a high contracepting female population in rural South Africa

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Barnighausen Till

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To present and compare population-based and antenatal-care (ANC sentinel surveillance HIV prevalence estimates among women in a rural South African population where both provision of ANC services and family planning is prevalent and fertility is declining. With a need, in such settings, to understand how to appropriately adjust ANC sentinel surveillance estimates to represent HIV prevalence in general populations, and with evidence of possible biases inherent to both surveillance systems, we explore differences between the two systems. There is particular emphasis on unrepresentative selection of ANC clinics and unrepresentative testing in the population. Methods HIV sero-prevalence amongst blood samples collected from women consenting to test during the 2005 annual longitudinal population-based serological survey was compared to anonymous unlinked HIV sero-prevalence amongst women attending antenatal care (ANC first visits in six clinics (January to May 2005. Both surveillance systems were conducted as part of the Africa Centre Demographic Information System. Results Population-based HIV prevalence estimates for all women (25.2% and pregnant women (23.7% were significantly lower than that for ANC attendees (37.7%. A large proportion of women attending urban or peri-urban clinics would be predicted to be resident within rural areas. Although overall estimates remained significantly different, presenting and standardising estimates by age and location (clinic for ANC-based estimates and individual-residence for population-based estimates made some group-specific estimates from the two surveillance systems more predictive of one another. Conclusion It is likely that where ANC coverage and contraceptive use is widespread and fertility is low, population-based surveillance under-estimates HIV prevalence due to unrepresentative testing by age, residence and also probably by HIV status, and that ANC sentinel surveillance over

[Mortality rates of circulatory system diseases and malignant neoplasms in Zagreb population younger than sixty-five--call for alarm].

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Vizintin, Marina Polić; Mrcela, Nada Tomasović; Kovacić, Luka

2012-12-01

The aim of this work was to analyze the public health indicators for circulatory heart diseases and malignant neoplasms in the population younger than 65 in the City of Zagreb, Croatia, and compare them with the European Union (EU) countries. The purpose was to evaluate the situation and propose the public health preventive measures. The study population were Zagreb citizens aged 0-64 according to the 2001 census. Total Zagreb population was 779145, making 17.6% of total Croatian population. Data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics and Dr Andrija Stampar Institute of Public Health were used. The standardized 0-64 mortality rates of the selected diseases 2006-2010 were used in the analysis. In 2010, the standardized mortality rates of all analyzed diseases were significantly higher in Zagreb population aged 0-64 than the EU averages except for cervical cancer. In 2010, the mortality rates in Zagreb population aged 0-64 were as follows: circulatory system diseases 61.22, ischemic heart disease 28.99, cerebrovascular diseases 12.51, malignant neoplasms 94.69, tracheal and lung cancer 24.92, breast cancer 21.08 and cervical cancer 2.05. Standardized mortality rates in Zagreb population aged 0-64 for circulatory system were lower than for Croatia (61.22 vs. 63.25), but higher for malignant neoplasms (94.69 vs. 91.2), except for cervical cancer (2.05 vs. 3.14). High standardized mortality rates for the selected diseases in the City of Zagreb, Croatia, were observed. The rates were higher in Zagreb population compared to EU averages except for cervical cancer. This situation urges revision of the public health strategy and implementation of more intensive preventive and screening measures to reduce the risk factors.

Determination of (2E-10-hydroxydec-2-enoic acid in Croatian royal jelly by high-performance liquid chromatography

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Ivana Flanjak

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Although health-promoting properties of royal jelly are known for many years, the absence of quality standards and methods prescribed for their determination leads to royal jelly adulteration. Royal jelly is a source of unique unsaturated fatty acid, (2E-10-hydroxydec-2-enoic acid (10-HDA, and its content is considered as one of the freshness and authenticity parameter. In this study, high performance liquid chromatographic method (HPLC with UV detection was validated and 10-HDA content in fresh royal jelly samples produced in Eastern Croatia was determined. The data about Croatian royal jelly are not available, therefore the results presented in this study could be considered as pioneer results for Croatian royal jelly characterization in respect of the 10-HDA. Method performance characteristics showed that the used method is fit for purpose. The content of 10-HDA in analysed samples varied from 1.56% up to 3.78%. According to the international recommendations for royal jelly quality, samples were fresh and authentic regarding 10-HDA content. Furthermore, the effect of packaging material on 10-HDA content was observed. Based on the obtained results, the conclusion was reached that if the samples were collected at the same time and frozen after collection, collection and storage of fresh royal jelly in glass and plastic containers had no effect on 10-HDA content.

A model of population dynamics of TB in a prison system and application to South Africa.

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Witbooi, Peter; Vyambwera, Sibaliwe Maku

2017-11-29

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to spread in South African prisons in particular, as prisons are over-capacitated and have poor ventilation. The awaiting trial detainees are not screened on admission and are at high risk of getting infected with TB. We propose a compartmental model to describe the population dynamics of TB disease in prisons. Our model considers the inflow of susceptible, exposed and TB infectives into the prison population. Removal of individuals out of the prison population can be either by death or by being released from prison, as compared to a general population in which removal is only by death. We describe conditions, including non-inflow of infectives into the prison, which will ensure that TB can be eradicated from the prison population. The model is calibrated for the South African prison system, by using data in existing literature. The model can be used to make quantitative projections of TB prevalence and to measure the effect of interventions. Illustrative simulations in this regard are presented. The model can be used for other prison populations too, if data is available to calculate the model parameters. Various simulations generated with our model serve to illustrate how it can be utilized in making future projections of the levels of prevalence of TB, and to quantify the effect of interventions such as screening, treatment or reduction of transmission parameter values through improved living conditions for inmates. This makes it particularly useful as there are various targets set by the World Health Organization and by governments, for reduction of TB prevalence and ultimately its eradication. Towards eradication of TB from a prison system, the theorem on global stability of the disease-free state is a useful indicator.

Long term energy demand projection and potential for energy savings of Croatian tourism–catering trade sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Irsag, Bojan; Pukšec, Tomislav; Duić, Neven

2012-01-01

Today, tourism represents one of the backbones of Croatian economy and one of the main factors of its growth. Combined with catering trade sector, tourism represents a significant energy consumer that has the tendencies of future growth. Since services sector, which tourism–catering trade sector is a part of, is not yet well described regarding future energy balances it would be very interesting to see how could possible future growth in tourism influence energy consumption of the services sector in Croatia. Through this paper long term energy demand projections of tourism–catering trade sector were studied with special emphasis on future growth of tourism in Croatia as well as different mechanisms that might lead to certain energy savings. Bottom-up approach was chosen as the most suitable one since it allows better quantification of different measures, technological or legal, that would influence future energy demand. Downside of this approach is extensive input data that is required to analyse and model future energy demand which is roughly divided into heating/cooling section and all other consumption. Results show that additional energy savings in the tourism–catering trade sector are possible if careful and rational demand side planning is in place. -- Highlights: ► Future energy demand of Croatian touristm–catering trade sector has been modelled. ► Model is roughly divided into two basic modes (heating/cooling and all other consumption). ► Different factors influencing future energy demand were implemented into the model. ► Possibilities for energy efficiency improvements have been presented.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms in native South American Atlantic coast populations of smooth shelled mussels: hybridization with invasive European Mytilus galloprovincialis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zbawicka, Małgorzata; Trucco, María I; Wenne, Roman

2018-02-22

Throughout the world, harvesting of mussels Mytilus spp. is based on the exploitation of natural populations and aquaculture. Aquaculture activities include transfers of spat and live adult mussels between various geographic locations, which may result in large-scale changes in the world distribution of Mytilus taxa. Mytilus taxa are morphologically similar and difficult to distinguish. In spite of much research on taxonomy, evolution and geographic distribution, the native Mytilus taxa of the Southern Hemisphere are poorly understood. Recently, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been used to clarify the taxonomic status of populations of smooth shelled mussels from the Pacific coast of South America. In this paper, we used a set of SNPs to characterize, for the first time, populations of smooth shelled mussels Mytilus from the Atlantic coast of South America. Mytilus spp. samples were collected from eastern South America. Six reference samples from the Northern Hemisphere were used: Mytilus edulis from USA and Northern Ireland, Mytilus trossulus from Canada, and Mytilus galloprovincialis from Spain and Italy. Two other reference samples from the Southern Hemisphere were included: M. galloprovincialis from New Zealand and Mytilus chilensis from Chile. Fifty-five SNPs were successfully genotyped, of which 51 were polymorphic. Population genetic analyses using the STRUCTURE program revealed the clustering of eight populations from Argentina (Mytilus platensis) and the clustering of the sample from Ushuaia with M. chilensis from Chile. All individuals in the Puerto Madryn (Argentina) sample were identified as M. platensis × M. galloprovincialis F2 (88.89%) hybrids, except one that was classified as Mediterranean M. galloprovincialis. No F1 hybrids were observed. We demonstrate that M. platensis (or Mytilus edulis platensis) and M. chilensis are distinct native taxa in South America, which indicates that the evolutionary histories of Mytilus taxa along the

Psychometric properties of the Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised Short-Form in a South African population.

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Sorsdahl, Katherine; Stein, Dan J; Myers, Bronwyn

2017-04-01

The Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised Short-Form (SPSI-R:SF) has been used in several countries to identify problem-solving deficits among clinical and general populations in order to guide cognitive-behavioural interventions. Yet, very few studies have evaluated its psychometric properties. Three language versions of the questionnaire were administered to a general population sample comprising 1000 participants (771 English-, 178 Afrikaans- and 101 Xhosa-speakers). Of these participants, 210 were randomly selected to establish test-retest reliability (70 in each language). Principal component analysis was performed to examine the applicability of the factor structure of the original questionnaire to the South African data. Supplementary psychometric analyses were performed, including internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Collectively, results provide initial evidence of the reliability and validity of the SPSI-R:SF for the assessment of problem solving deficits in South Africa. Further studies that explore how the Afrikaans language version of the SPSI-R:SF can be improved and that establish the predictive validity of scores on the SPSI-R:SF are needed. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

A Review of Dietary Surveys in the Adult South African Population from 2000 to 2015

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Zandile J. Mchiza

2015-09-01

Full Text Available One serious concern of health policymakers in South Africa is the fact that there is no national data on the dietary intake of adult South Africans. The only national dietary study was done in children in 1999. Hence, it becomes difficult to plan intervention and strategies to combat malnutrition without national data on adults. The current review consequently assessed all dietary studies in adults from 2000 to June 2015 in an attempt to portray typical adult dietary intakes and to assess possible dietary deficiencies. Notable findings were that, in South Africa micronutrient deficiencies are still highly prevalent and energy intakes varied between very low intakes in informal settlements to very high intakes in urban centers. The most commonly deficient food groups observed are fruit and vegetables, and dairy. This has been attributed to high prices and lack of availability of these food groups in poorer urban areas and townships. In rural areas, access to healthy foods also remains a problem. A national nutrition monitoring system is recommended in order to identify dietary deficiencies in specific population groups.

The Ir(rational in the Locomotion of Filmography, Theatre, Music Scene and Pop Culture as the Creation of the “New Croatian Cultural Memory”

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Igor Gajin

2015-09-01

Full Text Available By dealing with the examples of Croatian (pop culture production, the paper analyzes different strategies of cultural production in relation to the previously existing cultural memory matrix (anti- fascist, fascist, Yugoslavian, nationalist.... Do such practices indeed result in the moral of the film Total Recall?

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma polymorphism Pro12Ala in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS of South Indian Population

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Raichel Jacob

2016-05-01

Conclusion: PPARγ2 gene Pro12Ala polymorphism was supposed to be susceptible genes in PCOS. The present study demonstrated that there is a statistical difference between the distributions of PPAR gamma Pro12Ala polymorphism in South Indian Population.

CROATIAN WINE SECTOR IN THE LIGHT OF THE EU ACCESSION

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Jasna Čačić

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The accession process of The Republic of Croatia towards the membership in the European Union demands preparation and adjustment of the whole economy including agriculture. Wine sector, as one of the most complex agriculture sectors regarding European legislation framework, is finding itself on the point of rapid changes. The wine producers as well as the state have to adjust themselves to the new rules and to the new legal framework. The paper has analysed the current situation in the Croatian wine sector, explored the need for establishment of an institution that could help producers in wine marketing as well as the role of the government. According to the survey 73.6% wine producers sell their wine exclusively on the domestic market and 26.4% producers sell it on both domestic and international market. The results have indicated that 53.6% of the producers expect wine sale difficulties after Croatia enters the EU. According to the producers’ opinion the government should establish the institution that could help producers in marketing and consulting activities.

Multivariate Analysis of Profitability Indicators for Selected Companies of Croatian Market

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Ana Perisa

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the profitability indicators are analysed for the first hundred companies of the Croatian market, which are classified according to the net profit. The profitability indicators included in the analysis are the following: EBIT margin, EBITDA margin, net profit margin, return on assets (ROA, return on invested capital (ROI and return on capital employed (ROCE. By implementing the factor analysis, six chosen profitability indicators have been reduced to two factors, thus solving the multicollinearity problem, which is one of the prerequisites for the cluster analysis. For two extracted factors, the factor scores are calculated and used in the following cluster analysis. By implementing the cluster analysis, selected companies are grouped into clusters according to their similarity in accomplished results that are measured by profitability indicators. The hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses are conducted and resulted into two clusters where ten companies were in the first cluster, while the other ninety were in the second cluster

Proceedings of the Sixth Symposium of the Croatian Radiation Protection Association

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garaj-Vrhovac, V.; Kopjar, N.; Miljanic, S.

2005-01-01

Croatian Radiation Protection Association (CRPA) organised symposium with international participation. Co-organisers (Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia and Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia) show importance of this symposium, which was under the auspices of several ministries (Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction, Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia) and State Institute of Radiation Protection, State Office for Standardization and Metrology and APO Ltd. - Hazardous Waste Management Agency. All topics are of great interest for Croatia. They present recent researches in Croatia and in other almost same oriented countries in Europe.The distribution of topics at the Sixth symposium shows same parts with articles from radiation dosimetry and instrumentation, biological effects of radiation, public exposure, radiation protection in medicine, as well as radioecology. Also, non-ionising radiations take their share as very interesting topics at present. (S.P.)

Analysis of the genetic ancestry of patients with oral clefts from South American admixed populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Vieira-Machado, Camilla D; de Carvalho, Flavia M; Santana da Silva, Luiz C; Dos Santos, Sidney E; Martins, Claudia; Poletta, Fernando A; Mereb, Juan C; Vieira, Alexandre R; Castilla, Eduardo E; Orioli, Iêda M

2016-08-01

Increased susceptibility to cleft lip, with or without cleft palate (CL±P) has been observed in South America, as related to Amerindian ancestry, using epidemiological data, uniparental markers, and blood groups. In this study, it was evaluated whether this increased risk remains when Amerindian ancestry is estimated using autosomal markers and considered in the predictive model. Ancestry was estimated through genotyping 62 insertion and deletion (INDEL) markers in sample sets of patients with CL±P, patients with cleft palate (CP), and controls, from Patagonia in southern Argentina and Belém in northern Brazil. The Amerindian ancestry in patients from Patagonia with CL±P was greater than in controls although it did not reach statistical significance. The European ancestry in patients with CL±P from Belém and in patients with CP from Belém and Patagonia was higher than in controls and statistically significant for patients with CP who were from Belém. This high contribution of European genetic ancestry among patients with CP who were from Belém has not been previously observed in American populations. Our results do not corroborate the currently accepted risks for CL±P and CP estimated by epidemiological studies in the North American populations and probably reflect the higher admixture found in South American ethnic groups when compared with the same ethnic groups from the North American populations. © 2016 Eur J Oral Sci.

Time activity patterns: a case of south Durban, South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Matooane, M

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Exposure modelling in south Durban is constrained by a lack of population specific time-activity patterns data. We argue that the application of time-activity patterns from elsewhere in the world in exposure modelling in south Durban would...

THE ACCEPTANCE OF HEALTH RELATED INNOVATIONS IN TRADITIONAL MEAT PRODUCTS BY CROATIAN CONSUMERS

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Danijel Karolyi

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to examine Croatian consumers’ acceptance of health related innovations in traditional meat products. A face-to-face survey was conducted with a sample of 151 visitors of a specialized fair of traditional food products in Zagreb in 2013. The respondents were asked to indicate their attitudes on a fivepoint scale, where 1 meant rejection or no impact and 5 meant full acceptance or high impact. Results (mean±SD showed the highest level of acceptance for innovations related to better control of smoking conditions (3.3± 1.14 and reduction of salt content (3.1±1.15, followed by reduced fat content (3.0±1.14 and controlled fermentation (2.9±1.12. The perceived negative impact of innovations on traditional character of meat products was highest for fat (3.4±0.99 and salt (3.4±1.03 reduction and lowest for controlled fermentation (3.2±1.04 and smoking conditions (3.2±1.05. With regards to respondents’ socio-demographic features a nonparametric test statistic (Mann-Whitney U revealed a higher acceptance of fat reduction and higher willingness to increase a consumption of healthier traditional meat products among females, while age, education level and income had no influence on the investigated parameters. In addition, some health related innovations; e.g. fat reduction and controlled fermentation were generally less acceptable among respondents with a high consumption frequency of traditional meat products. The results of this preliminary study indicated controlled smoking conditions as the best accepted health related innovation by Croatian consumers with the least negative impact on perceived traditional character of product. In general terms, women were more likely to accept some of the investigated innovations and consequently to increase their consumption of innovate products. However, the most regular consumers of traditional meat products were less open towards innovations which may pose a challenge to

Domestication and human demographic history in South America.

Science.gov (United States)

Perez, S Ivan; Postillone, María Bárbara; Rindel, Diego

2017-05-01

The early groups of hunter-gatherers who peopled South America faced significant ecological changes in their trophic niche for a relatively short period after the initial peopling. In particular, the incorporation of cultigens during the Holocene led to a wider trophic niche and probably to an increased carrying capacity of the environment. Here, we study the relationship between the incorporation of domestic resources during the Holocene and the demographic dynamics of human populations at a regional scale in South America. We employ mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), radiocarbon data and Bayesian methods to estimate differences in population size, human occupation and explore the demographic changes of human populations in three regions (i.e., South-Central Andes, Northwest, and South Patagonia). We also use archaeological evidence to infer the main diet changes in these regions. The absolute population size during the later Late Holocene was fifteen times larger in the South-Central Andes than in Northwest Patagonia, and two times larger in the latter region than in South Patagonia. The South-Central Andes display the earlier and more abrupt population growth, beginning about 9000 years BP, whereas Northwest Patagonia exhibits a more slow growth, beginning about 7000-7500 years BP. South Patagonia represents a later and slower population increase. In this work we uncovered a well-supported pattern of the demographic change in the populations from South-Central Andes and Patagonia, obtained on the basis of different data and quantitative approaches, which suggests that the incorporation of domestic resources was paramount for the demographic expansion of these populations during the Holocene. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ethno- medico - botanical studies of Badaga population In the Nilgiri district of Tamilnadu, South India

Science.gov (United States)

Manikandan, P. N. Arul

2008-01-01

The study grains to explore ethno-medicobotany of Badaga population in the Nilgiri hills of Tamilnadu, South India. Ethno botanical field survey and personal discussion methods have been adopted in the collection of data. A list of 71 flowering plants belonging to 42 families, 67 genera and 70 species are employed by the Badaga popu-lation in their native system of medicine for therapeutic purposes. In reviewing ethnomedical information, data on folk herbal remedies and their various methods of applications for treating a wide range of ailments have been furnished. A brief description of plants, their habitat, family and local Badaga names are outlined here. PMID:22557279

Impact of black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis minor) on a local population of Euphorbia bothae in the Great Fish River Reserve, South Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luske, B.L.; Mertens, T.; Lent, P.C.; Boer, de W.F.; Prins, H.H.T.

2009-01-01

In the Great Fish River Reserve, South Africa, black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis minor) feed extensively on a local population of Euphorbia bothae. Maintaining the endangered black rhinoceros and the protected E. bothae population are both conservation priorities of the reserve. Therefore, the

Pulmonary impairment after tuberculosis in a South African population

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Gibwa Cole

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Background: In South Africa, pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB remains a problem of epidemic proportions. Despite evidence demonstrating persistent lung impairment after PTB cure, few population-based South African studies have investigated this finding. Pulmonary rehabilitation post-cure is not routinely received. Objectives: To determine the effects of PTB on lung function in adults with current or past PTB. To determine any association between PTB and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD. Methods: This study was observational and cross-sectional in design. Participants (n = 55 were included if they were HIV positive on treatment, had current PTB and were on treatment, and/or had previous PTB and completed treatment or if they were healthy adult subjects with no history of PTB. A sample of convenience was used with participants coming from a similar socio-economic background and undergoing spirometry testing. Multiple regression analyses were conducted on each lung function variable. Results: Compared to normal percentage-predicted values, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1 , forced vital capacity (FVC and FEV1 :FVC were significantly reduced in those with current PTB by 23.39%, 15.99% and 6.4%, respectively. Both FEV1 and FVC were significantly reduced in those with past PTB by 11.76% and 10.79%, respectively. There was no association between PTB and COPD – those with previous PTB having a reduced FEV1 :FVC (4.88% less than the norm, which was just short of significance (p = 0.059. Conclusions: Lung function is reduced both during and after treatment for PTB and these deficits may persist. This has implications regarding the need for pulmonary rehabilitation even after medical cure. Keywords: Lung function, pulmonary, tuberculosis

Evolution of naturally occurring 5'non-coding region variants of Hepatitis C virus in human populations of the South American region

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García-Aguirre Laura

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV has been the subject of intense research and clinical investigation as its major role in human disease has emerged. Previous and recent studies have suggested a diversification of type 1 HCV in the South American region. The degree of genetic variation among HCV strains circulating in Bolivia and Colombia is currently unknown. In order to get insight into these matters, we performed a phylogenetic analysis of HCV 5' non-coding region (5'NCR sequences from strains isolated in Bolivia, Colombia and Uruguay, as well as available comparable sequences of HCV strains isolated in South America. Methods Phylogenetic tree analysis was performed using the neighbor-joining method under a matrix of genetic distances established under the Kimura-two parameter model. Signature pattern analysis, which identifies particular sites in nucleic acid alignments of variable sequences that are distinctly representative relative to a background set, was performed using the method of Korber & Myers, as implemented in the VESPA program. Prediction of RNA secondary structures was done by the method of Zuker & Turner, as implemented in the mfold program. Results Phylogenetic tree analysis of HCV strains isolated in the South American region revealed the presence of a distinct genetic lineage inside genotype 1. Signature pattern analysis revealed that the presence of this lineage is consistent with the presence of a sequence signature in the 5'NCR of HCV strains isolated in South America. Comparisons of these results with the ones found for Europe or North America revealed that this sequence signature is characteristic of the South American region. Conclusion Phylogentic analysis revealed the presence of a sequence signature in the 5'NCR of type 1 HCV strains isolated in South America. This signature is frequent enough in type 1 HCV populations circulating South America to be detected in a phylogenetic tree analysis as a distinct

Population structure of humpback whales in the western and central South Pacific Ocean as determined by vocal exchange among populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Garland, Ellen C; Goldizen, Anne W; Lilley, Matthew S; Rekdahl, Melinda L; Garrigue, Claire; Constantine, Rochelle; Hauser, Nan Daeschler; Poole, M Michael; Robbins, Jooke; Noad, Michael J

2015-08-01

For cetaceans, population structure is traditionally determined by molecular genetics or photographically identified individuals. Acoustic data, however, has provided information on movement and population structure with less effort and cost than traditional methods in an array of taxa. Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) produce a continually evolving vocal sexual display, or song, that is similar among all males in a population. The rapid cultural transmission (the transfer of information or behavior between conspecifics through social learning) of different versions of this display between distinct but interconnected populations in the western and central South Pacific region presents a unique way to investigate population structure based on the movement dynamics of a song (acoustic) display. Using 11 years of data, we investigated an acoustically based population structure for the region by comparing stereotyped song sequences among populations and years. We used the Levenshtein distance technique to group previously defined populations into (vocally based) clusters based on the overall similarity of their song display in space and time. We identified the following distinct vocal clusters: western cluster, 1 population off eastern Australia; central cluster, populations around New Caledonia, Tonga, and American Samoa; and eastern region, either a single cluster or 2 clusters, one around the Cook Islands and the other off French Polynesia. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that each breeding aggregation represents a distinct population (each occupied a single, terminal node) in a metapopulation, similar to the current understanding of population structure based on genetic and photo-identification studies. However, the central vocal cluster had higher levels of song-sharing among populations than the other clusters, indicating that levels of vocal connectivity varied within the region. Our results demonstrate the utility and value of

Health-related quality of life measured using the EQ-5D-5L: South Australian population norms.

Science.gov (United States)

McCaffrey, Nikki; Kaambwa, Billingsley; Currow, David C; Ratcliffe, Julie

2016-09-20

Although a five level version of the widely-used EuroQol 5 dimensions (EQ-5D) instrument has been developed, population norms are not yet available for Australia to inform the future valuation of health in economic evaluations. The aim of this study was to estimate HrQOL normative values for the EQ-5D-5L preference-based measure in a large, randomly selected, community sample in South Australia. The EQ-5D-5L instrument was included in the 2013 South Australian Health Omnibus Survey, an interviewer-administered, face-to-face, cross-sectional survey. Respondents rated their level of impairment across dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression) and global health rating on a visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS). Utility scores were derived using the newly-developed UK general population-based algorithm and relationships between utility and EQ-VAS scores and socio-demographic factors were also explored using multivariate regression analyses. Ultimately, 2,908 adults participated in the survey (63.4 % participation rate). The mean utility and EQ-VAS scores were 0.91 (95 CI 0.90, 0.91) and 78.55 (95 % CI 77.95, 79.15), respectively. Almost half of respondents reported no problems across all dimensions (42.8 %), whereas only 7.2 % rated their health >90 on the EQ-VAS (100 = the best health you can imagine). Younger age, male gender, longer duration of education, higher annual household income, employment and marriage/de facto relationships were all independent, statistically significant predictors of better health status (p measured with the EQ-VAS. Only age and employment status were associated with higher utility scores, indicating fundamental differences between these measures of health status. This is the first Australian study to apply the EQ-5D-5L in a large, community sample. Overall, findings are consistent with EQ-5D-5L utility and VAS scores reported for other countries and indicate that the majority of South

Africanization of a feral honey bee (Apis mellifera) population in South Texas: does a decade make a difference?

OpenAIRE

Rangel, Juliana; Giresi, Melissa; Pinto, M. Alice; Baum, Kristen A.; Rubink, William L.; Coulson, Robert N.; Johnston, J. Spencer

2016-01-01

Abstract The arrival to the United States of the Africanized honey bee, a hybrid between European subspecies and the African subspecies Apis mellifera scutellata, is a remarkable model for the study of biological invasions. This immigration has created an opportunity to study the dynamics of secondary contact of honey bee subspecies from African and European lineages in a feral population in South Texas. An 11?year survey of this population (1991?2001) showed that mitochondrial haplotype freq...

DEA-BASED INVESTMENT STRATEGY AND ITS APPLICATION IN THE CROATIAN STOCK MARKET

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Margareta Gardijan

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the DEA-based investment strategy for constructing of a stock portfolio in the Croatian stock market. The relative efficiency of the DMUs, which are in this case the selected stocks from Zagreb Stock Exchange, is obtained from the output oriented CCR and BCC models. The set of inputs consists of risk measures, namely return variance, Value at Risk (VaR and beta coefficient $(\\beta$, while monthly return represents an output. Following the „efficiency scores“, obtained from the models, we construct a portfolio of DEA-efficient stocks (DEA-portfolio. This portfolio can be modified over time according to changes of the DMU's efficiency scores. By comparing the returns of the EA-portfolio and the market return during the given time period, the applicability of the investment strategy based on a DEA methodology, as a strategy for achieving superior returns, is estimated.

Influence of new customs procedures and logistic security standards on companies competiveness – a Croatian company case study

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Aleksandar Erceg

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In today’s global market, companies are constantly confronted with the competition on the local, national and international level. Companies therefore use a variety of strategies and tools to become and/or remain competitive. Potential areas for cost reduction in companies are supply chain management and logistic and customs procedures. Implementation of various logistic standards in supply chain management can provide significant cost savings for the company’s daily operations and thus reduce overall costs and improve the competitiveness. Using different customs procedures and logistic standards to reduce their costs and become more competitive in the market is necessary for Croatian companies. The method of using these tools is not a one-time process and requires constant efforts. Companies therefore have to be ready to improve daily to be and remain competitive. Using a variety of modern customs procedures can save their money and time, not only through these procedures, but also through better use of their employee’s time, their own vehicles and other equipment. The paper analyzes various customs procedures and logistic standards that can help companies save time and money and improve their competitiveness. In the example of Croatian company, which uses various available procedures and standards the benefits of their use are shown. Apart from bringing savings in operations, all these procedures and standards allow the company to be better, cheaper and more attractive to buyers.

Quantitative Content Analysis of Communication Patterns on Facebook: A Case Study of the Croatian Government

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Mato Brautović

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In the process of involving citizens more deeply in the democratic process, Facebook is becoming an increasingly important tool for governments in policy making. Facebook has the potential to increase political participation, but many governments fail to use it in the right way, because they just share information online and do not engage with their followers/citizens. This paper shows how the Croatian government is using Facebook and the communication patterns resulting from their work. The quantitative analysis of 20,546 posts and 52,311 comments show that communication is one way, rather than interactive. Government users do not follow the 90-9-1- rule of thumb for social networks.

[Health Information Behavior of the South Tyrolean Population: An Epidemiological Cross-Sectional Study].

Science.gov (United States)

Vögele, Anna; Becker, Ulrich; Gögele, Anna; Schneider, Antonius; Engl, Adolf

2018-06-04

Investigation of the health information behavior, self-rated health, confidence in health issues and specific attitudes to health among the South Tyrolean population. Our study is an epidemiological cross-sectional study; data were collected via telephone interviews, using a questionnaire developed for this purpose that covered various aspects of information and health-related behavior. For the elaboration of the typology of the most distinctive stereotypes in terms of health information and health-related behavior, a hierarchical cluster analysis was performed. We assessed 504 correct telephone interviews. The majority of the respondents considered themselves health-conscious and preferred heterogeneous information media. The most used information media for health issues were mass media, i. e. newspapers or magazines and television or radio. The internet was used less as a source of information. Younger individuals assessed themselves to be healthier than older people, and older women aged 65 years or more were the most health-impaired group. Respondents had greatest confidence in their general practitioner, their own feeling or experience. Thus, in terms of health information and health behavior, the following four classes of people could be distinguished, namely "internet information elite", "robust fatalists", "stricken" and "health-conscious mainstreamers". Our results show that the South Tyrolean population has a high level of health consciousness and gathers health information from various media. The characterization of different patient typologies of information processing in combination with health-related behavior indicates that information about health and illness should be appropriately addressed to the respective stereotype. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Opinion of Croatian Teacher Education Students Regarding the Quality of the Visual Arts Teaching Didactics Course

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Marijana Županić Benić

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to assess student satisfaction with the Visual Arts Teaching Methodology course taught at the Croatian faculties of teacher education and identify important areas for improvement. The students’ open-ended, qualitative responses were reviewed and each response was assigned to one or more of the following categories: teacher performance, student teaching practice, assessment and grading, course organization, availability of learning materials and resources, and student teaching competences. The results indicate that the students are most satisfied with teacher performance, but they are also the least satisfied with course organization and recommend the most improvements in this area.

A case report of Anisakis pegreffii (Nematoda, Anisakidae) identified from archival paraffin sections of a Croatian patient.

Science.gov (United States)

Mladineo, Ivona; Popović, Marijana; Drmić-Hofman, Irena; Poljak, Vedran

2016-02-01

This is the first report of anisakiasis in a Croatian patient, evidenced from an archival paraffin-embedded and hematoxylin-eosin stained tissue section. Anisakiasis has been only suspected in the country based on previously detected anti-Anisakis IgE seroprevalence in the healthy coastal population, as well as an acute case where pathohistological and serological findings suggested the diseases, but the migrating larva has not been retrieved. Seventy years-old female, operated in 1998 for pulmonary carcinoma, was admitted to the General hospital Šibenik, Croatia in 2003, because of gastric pain and nausea that lasted for couple of days. She was showing good general condition, full mobility and lucidity, subfebrile status. Abdominal palpation inferred acute pain in paraumbilical and ileocecal region. Exploratory right pararectal laparotomy revealed a hardened, 5 cm-long structure, located intraluminally in the sigmoid colon, not perforating colon serosa. The process has been dissected and sent for patohistological diagnosis. Results showed a 2 mm-long whitish nematode spiralised in muscular layer of colon mucosa surrounded by granulomatous inflammation. After genomic DNA isolation of the nematode from the histological section, and amplification at the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 2 locus, etiological agent has been identified as Anisakis pegreffii. Used methodology suggests that screening of archival suspicious sections is feasible in order to study epidemiology of this zoonotic disease poorly recognised in Croatia.

5-HTTLPR Polymorphism: Analysis in South African Autistic Individuals

KAUST Repository

Arieff, Zainunisha

2010-06-01

The serotonin transporter promoter length polymorphism (5-hydroxytryptamine transporter length polymorphism; 5-HTTLPR) has long been implicated in autism and other psychiatric disorders. The use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has a positive effect on treating some symptoms of autism. The effects of these drugs vary in individuals because of the presence of the S or L allele of 5-HTTLPR. Studies performed on various autistic populations have found different allele frequencies for the L and S alleles. Allele frequencies and genotypes of the South African autistic populations (African, mixed, and Caucasian) were compared with matching South African ethnic control populations. The *S/*S genotype was found to be highly significantly associated with all the South African autistic ethnic populations. In the South African African population the *S/*S genotype was present in 7 (33%) of the autistic individuals but in none of the control subjects, yielding infinitely large odds of developing autism. The odds of developing autism with the *S/*S genotype compared to the *L/*L genotype increased 10.15-fold in the South African mixed group and 2.74-fold in the South African Caucasian population. The allele frequency of the South African autistic population was also compared with studies of other autistic populations around the world, and highly significant differences were found with the Japanese, Korean, and Indian population groups. The difference was not significant for the French, German, Israeli, Portuguese, and American groups. This is the first South African study of autistic individuals of different ethnic backgrounds that shows significant differences in allele and genotype frequencies of 5-HTTLPR. The results of this study open new avenues for investigating the role of transmission of the L and S alleles in families with autism in South Africa.

5-HTTLPR Polymorphism: Analysis in South African Autistic Individuals

KAUST Repository

Arieff, Zainunisha; Kaur, Mandeep; Gameeldien, Hajirah; van der Merwe, Lize; Bajic, Vladimir B.

2010-01-01

The serotonin transporter promoter length polymorphism (5-hydroxytryptamine transporter length polymorphism; 5-HTTLPR) has long been implicated in autism and other psychiatric disorders. The use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has a positive effect on treating some symptoms of autism. The effects of these drugs vary in individuals because of the presence of the S or L allele of 5-HTTLPR. Studies performed on various autistic populations have found different allele frequencies for the L and S alleles. Allele frequencies and genotypes of the South African autistic populations (African, mixed, and Caucasian) were compared with matching South African ethnic control populations. The *S/*S genotype was found to be highly significantly associated with all the South African autistic ethnic populations. In the South African African population the *S/*S genotype was present in 7 (33%) of the autistic individuals but in none of the control subjects, yielding infinitely large odds of developing autism. The odds of developing autism with the *S/*S genotype compared to the *L/*L genotype increased 10.15-fold in the South African mixed group and 2.74-fold in the South African Caucasian population. The allele frequency of the South African autistic population was also compared with studies of other autistic populations around the world, and highly significant differences were found with the Japanese, Korean, and Indian population groups. The difference was not significant for the French, German, Israeli, Portuguese, and American groups. This is the first South African study of autistic individuals of different ethnic backgrounds that shows significant differences in allele and genotype frequencies of 5-HTTLPR. The results of this study open new avenues for investigating the role of transmission of the L and S alleles in families with autism in South Africa.

5-HTTLPR polymorphism: analysis in South African autistic individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Arieff, Zainunisha; Kaur, Mandeep; Gameeldien, Hajirah; van der Merwe, Lize; Bajic, Vladimir B

2010-06-01

The serotonin transporter promoter length polymorphism (5-hydroxytryptamine transporter length polymorphism; 5-HTTLPR) has long been implicated in autism and other psychiatric disorders. The use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has a positive effect on treating some symptoms of autism. The effects of these drugs vary in individuals because of the presence of the S or L allele of 5-HTTLPR. Studies performed on various autistic populations have found different allele frequencies for the L and S alleles. Allele frequencies and genotypes of the South African autistic populations (African, mixed, and Caucasian) were compared with matching South African ethnic control populations. The *S/*S genotype was found to be highly significantly associated with all the South African autistic ethnic populations. In the South African African population the *S/*S genotype was present in 7 (33%) of the autistic individuals but in none of the control subjects, yielding infinitely large odds of developing autism. The odds of developing autism with the *S/*S genotype compared to the *L/*L genotype increased 10.15-fold in the South African mixed group and 2.74-fold in the South African Caucasian population. The allele frequency of the South African autistic population was also compared with studies of other autistic populations around the world, and highly significant differences were found with the Japanese, Korean, and Indian population groups. The difference was not significant for the French, German, Israeli, Portuguese, and American groups. This is the first South African study of autistic individuals of different ethnic backgrounds that shows significant differences in allele and genotype frequencies of 5-HTTLPR. The results of this study open new avenues for investigating the role of transmission of the L and S alleles in families with autism in South Africa.

On the fecundity of the Black Sea bream, Spondyliosoma cantharus (L. , from the Adriatic Sea (Croatian coast

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Jakov Dulcic

1998-09-01

Full Text Available The fecundity of the Black Sea bream from the eastern middle Adriatic (Croatian coast was assessed by the volumetric method using 59 ovaries in pre-spawning stage from fish between 18.5 and 33.5 cm total length. Estimates of total potential annual fecundity varied between 31,670 and 554,070 eggs per female. Relationships between total potential fecundity and total length (TL, total weight (TW and age (A were established using the multiplicative regression model. Relative fecundity is constant, reaching a maximum of 850 eggs per g in the 30.5 cm to 31.0 cm length class.

Phylogeography and sex-biased dispersal across riverine manatee populations (Trichechus inunguis and Trichechus manatus) in South America.

Science.gov (United States)

Satizábal, Paula; Mignucci-Giannoni, Antonio A; Duchêne, Sebastián; Caicedo-Herrera, Dalila; Perea-Sicchar, Carlos M; García-Dávila, Carmen R; Trujillo, Fernando; Caballero, Susana J

2012-01-01

Phylogeographic patterns and sex-biased dispersal were studied in riverine populations of West Indian (Trichechus manatus) and Amazonian manatees (T. inunguis) in South America, using 410bp D-loop (Control Region, Mitochondrial DNA) sequences and 15 nuclear microsatellite loci. This multi-locus approach was key to disentangle complex patterns of gene flow among populations. D-loop analyses revealed population structuring among all Colombian rivers for T. manatus, while microsatellite data suggested no structure. Two main populations of T. inunguis separating the Colombian and Peruvian Amazon were supported by analysis of the D-loop and microsatellite data. Overall, we provide molecular evidence for differences in dispersal patterns between sexes, demonstrating male-biased gene flow dispersal in riverine manatees. These results are in contrast with previously reported levels of population structure shown by microsatellite data in marine manatee populations, revealing low habitat restrictions to gene flow in riverine habitats, and more significant dispersal limitations for males in marine environments.

Phylogeography and sex-biased dispersal across riverine manatee populations (Trichechus inunguis and Trichechus manatus in South America.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paula Satizábal

Full Text Available Phylogeographic patterns and sex-biased dispersal were studied in riverine populations of West Indian (Trichechus manatus and Amazonian manatees (T. inunguis in South America, using 410bp D-loop (Control Region, Mitochondrial DNA sequences and 15 nuclear microsatellite loci. This multi-locus approach was key to disentangle complex patterns of gene flow among populations. D-loop analyses revealed population structuring among all Colombian rivers for T. manatus, while microsatellite data suggested no structure. Two main populations of T. inunguis separating the Colombian and Peruvian Amazon were supported by analysis of the D-loop and microsatellite data. Overall, we provide molecular evidence for differences in dispersal patterns between sexes, demonstrating male-biased gene flow dispersal in riverine manatees. These results are in contrast with previously reported levels of population structure shown by microsatellite data in marine manatee populations, revealing low habitat restrictions to gene flow in riverine habitats, and more significant dispersal limitations for males in marine environments.

Psychosocial stress and strategies for managing adversity: measuring population resilience in New South Wales, Australia

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Jacobs Jennifer

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Populations around the world are facing an increasing number of adversities such as the global financial crisis, terrorism, conflict, and climate change. The aim of this paper was to investigate self-reported strategies and sources of support used to get through "tough times" in an Australian context and to identify patterns of response in the general population and differences in potentially vulnerable subgroups. Methods Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of the New South Wales population in Australia. The final sample consisted of 3,995 New South Wales residents aged 16 years and above who responded to the question: "What are the things that get you through tough times?" Results Respondents provided brief comments that were coded into 14 main subject-area categories. The most frequently reported responses were family and self (52%; friends and neighbors (21%; use of positive emotional and philosophical strategies (17%, such as sense of humor, determination, and the belief that things would get better; and religious beliefs (11%. The responses of four population subgroups were compared, based on gender, household income, level of psychological distress, and whether a language other than English was spoken at home. Women reported greater use of friends and neighbors and religious or spiritual beliefs for support, whereas men reported greater use of drinking/smoking and financial supports. Those with lower incomes reported greater reliance on positive emotional and philosophical strategies and on religious or spiritual beliefs. Those with high levels of psychological distress reported greater use of leisure interests and hobbies, drinking/smoking, and less use of positive lifestyle strategies, such as adequate sleep, relaxation, or work/life balance. Those who spoke a language other than English at home were less likely to report relying on self or others (family/friends or positive emotional and

Psychosocial stress and strategies for managing adversity: measuring population resilience in New South Wales, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Melanie; Barr, Margo; Stevens, Garry; Bryson-Taylor, Donald; Agho, Kingsley; Jacobs, Jennifer; Raphael, Beverley

2010-10-14

Populations around the world are facing an increasing number of adversities such as the global financial crisis, terrorism, conflict, and climate change. The aim of this paper was to investigate self-reported strategies and sources of support used to get through "tough times" in an Australian context and to identify patterns of response in the general population and differences in potentially vulnerable subgroups. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of the New South Wales population in Australia. The final sample consisted of 3,995 New South Wales residents aged 16 years and above who responded to the question: "What are the things that get you through tough times?" Respondents provided brief comments that were coded into 14 main subject-area categories. The most frequently reported responses were family and self (52%); friends and neighbors (21%); use of positive emotional and philosophical strategies (17%), such as sense of humor, determination, and the belief that things would get better; and religious beliefs (11%). The responses of four population subgroups were compared, based on gender, household income, level of psychological distress, and whether a language other than English was spoken at home. Women reported greater use of friends and neighbors and religious or spiritual beliefs for support, whereas men reported greater use of drinking/smoking and financial supports. Those with lower incomes reported greater reliance on positive emotional and philosophical strategies and on religious or spiritual beliefs. Those with high levels of psychological distress reported greater use of leisure interests and hobbies, drinking/smoking, and less use of positive lifestyle strategies, such as adequate sleep, relaxation, or work/life balance. Those who spoke a language other than English at home were less likely to report relying on self or others (family/friends) or positive emotional and philosophical strategies to get through tough times

Morphology of Sigmoid Colon in South Indian Population: A Cadaveric Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Michael, Stelin Agnes; Rabi, Suganthy

2015-08-01

Sigmoid volvulus is a common etiological factor in acute large bowel obstruction. The increased length of sigmoid colon is attributed as one of the causes of sigmoid volvulus. The aim of this study was to find the morphology of sigmoid colon in South Indian population using cadavers. The present study was performed with 31 cadavers used for teaching purpose. The sigmoid colon was classified into classical, long-narrow and long- broad types by their disposition in the abdominal cavity. The sigmoid loop's relation to pelvic brim was also observed and grouped as pelvic and suprapelvic in position. The length of sigmoid colon along the mesenteric and antimesenteric border, height and width of sigmoid mesocolon in relation to the pelvic brim and the root of mesentery were measured in the study. The study showed that the majority of the sigmoid colons fell into the classical type (47.6%). The sigmoid colon in pelvic position was significantly more prevalent. The mean length of sigmoid colon was 15.2 ± 4.4cm and 19.2 ± 6cm considering the pelvic brim and root of mesentery as reference points of measurement respectively. The mean length along antimesenteric border was 22.3 ± 7.9cm and 25 ± 8.7cm along the same reference points. The mean length of mesocolon height was 6.5 ± 3cm with reference to pelvic brim and 7.3 ± 3cm with reference to root of Sigmoid mesocolon respectively. The mean width of mesocolon was 7.4 ± 3cm (pelvic brim) and 8 ± 2cm (root of Sigmoid mesocolon) There was a positive correlation of sigmoid colon length with the height of the mesocolon. The gender analysis showed that males had statistically significant longer sigmoid colon and mesocolon. This study documents that the South Indian population has a more classical type of sigmoid colon and that the anatomical dimensions of sigmoid colon and its mesocolon is significantly longer in males.

Lifetime ultraviolet exposure estimates for selected population groups in south-east Queensland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parisi, A.V.; Meldrum, L.R.; Wong, J.C.F.; Fleming, R.A.; Aitken, J.

1999-01-01

The lifetime erythemal UV exposures received by selected population groups in south-east Queensland from birth up to an age of 55 years have been quantitatively estimated. A representative sample of teachers and other school workers received (64±22)x10 5 J m -2 to the neck compared with (4.1±1.4)x10 5 Jm -2 to the upper leg. A sample of indoor workers (bank officers, solicitors and psychologists) received approximately 2% less and a sample of outdoor workers (carpenters, tilers, electricians and labourers) received approximately 10% more to the neck than the school workers. These differences in erythemal UV exposures may influence the risk of non-melanoma skin cancer. (author)

Athletic Engagement and Athletic Identity in Top Croatian Sprint Runners.

Science.gov (United States)

Babić, Vesna; Sarac, Jelena; Missoni, Sasa; Sindik, Josko

2015-09-01

The aim of the research was to determine construct validity and reliability for two questionnaires (Athlete Engagement Questionnaire-AEQ and Athletic Identity Measurement Scale-AIMS), applied on elite Croatian athletes-sprinters, as well as the correlations among the dimensions in these measuring instruments. Then, we have determined the differences in the dimensions of sport engagement and sport identity, according to gender, education level and winning medals on international competitions. A total of 71 elite athletes-sprinters (former and still active) are examined, from which 27 (38%) females and 44 (62%) males. The results of factor analyses revealed the existence of dimensions very similar as in the original instruments, which showed moderate to-high reliabilities. A small number of statistically significant correlations have been found between the dimensions of sport engagement and sport identity, mainly in male sprinter runners. Small number of statistically significant differences in the dimensions of sport engagement and sport identity have been found according to the gender, education level and winning medals on the international competitions. The most reasonable explanation of these differences could be given in terms of very similar characteristics of elite athletes on the same level of sport excellence.

Sodium and potassium intake in South Africa: an evaluation of 24-hour urine collections in a white, black, and Indian population.

Science.gov (United States)

Swanepoel, Bianca; Schutte, Aletta E; Cockeran, Marike; Steyn, Krisela; Wentzel-Viljoen, Edelweiss

2016-11-01

Limited number of studies on salt intake has been conducted in the South Africa. The present study established the sodium and potassium excretion (24-hour urine collection) of three different South African populations. In total, 692 successful 24-hour urine collections were analyzed for sodium, potassium, and iodine levels. The median sodium and potassium excretion was 122.9 and 33.5 mmol/d, respectively, and the median salt intake was 7.2 g/d. The majority (92.8%) of the population did not meet the recommended potassium intake/d, and 65.6% consumed more than 6 g of salt/d. Potassium excretion showed a linear relationship with salt intake (P-trend ≤ .001). The median sodium-to-potassium ratio was 3.5. These findings support the South African government's sodium reduction legislation, as well as global initiatives. More consideration should be given to promoting the intake of potassium-rich foods, as this may have a greater public health impact than focusing only on dietary sodium reduction. Copyright © 2016 American Society of Hypertension. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Knowledge and awareness about diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy in suburban population of a South Indian state and its practice among the patients with diabetes mellitus: A population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hussain, Rameez; Rajesh, Bindu; Giridhar, Anantharaman; Gopalakrishnan, Mahesh; Sadasivan, Sanjai; James, Justin; Vijayan, Pradeep Padickal; John, Nelson

2016-04-01

Ocular complications due to diabetes mellitus (DM) were on the rise despite good literacy levels in South India. To assess the knowledge and attitude toward DM and diabetic retinopathy of the general population in a suburban town of South India. Door-to-door population survey in suburban town of South India in May 2013. A 30-point questionnaire was prepared and the data were collected and analyzed to determine statistically the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) scores of the general and diabetic population and also to determine significant demographic associations. In this study, 6211 people (3528 [56.8%] women and 2683 [43.2%] men) with a mean age of 55.6 ± 11.7 years (range 21-98 years) were included. Good knowledge and positive attitude were observed in 3457 (55.6%) and 3280 (52.8%) people. Among 1538 (25.4%) people known to have DM, only 619 (40.7%) had good knowledge, 828 (53.8%) had a positive attitude, and 886 (57.6%) had good practice patterns. Although half of them followed general diabetic care, only 9.6% had undergone screening for retinopathy. Literacy showed a significant association with good KAP (P knowledge (P < 0.001). Better literacy, especially among women, is contributory to better public awareness; however, the trend for poor practice patterns needs to be radically changed with aggressive public motivation emphasizing on the necessity of retinopathy screening and periodic follow-ups.

[Knowledge of the general population about hypertension and diabetes mellitus in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo].

Science.gov (United States)

Katchunga, P B; Malanda, B; Mweze, M C; Dupont, B; M'Buyamba-Kabangu, J R; Kashongwe, Z; Kabinda, J M; Buysschaert, M

2012-04-01

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country in a post-conflict period, high priority cannot be given to non-communicable diseases other than to emergencies. This certainly involves inadequacy in raising awareness for prevention of these diseases. To evaluate the level of knowledge of the Congolese general population on hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Responses to a questionnaire from 3% of the general population aged 15 and older in the city of Bukavu and two rural areas: Hombo and Walungu (South Kivu, eastern DRC), recruited after stratification by ward in the city of Bukavu and a group of prone villages were expected. The questions focused on identification, testing, causes, complications and treatment of hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Of the 7770 respondents, screening for hypertension and diabetes mellitus affected only 14.9% and 7.3% of subjects respectively. Knowledge of these two conditions was generally low in the general population, although better in the subgroups of patients and those with higher socioeconomic level (Pknowledge (Pknowledge about hypertension and diabetes mellitus and their testing in South Kivu is low. It is imperative that the Congolese government includes non-communicable diseases in its priorities of the millennium. Similarly, the WHO should actively contribute to screening for them in low-income countries. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

A Comparative Rugoscopic Study of the Dentate and Edentulous Individuals in the South Indian Population

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Jagdish Prasad Rajguru

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes the rugae pattern in dentulous and edentulous patients and also evaluates the association of rugae pattern between males and females. Aims and Objectives. This study aims to investigate rugae patterns in dentulous and edentulous patients of both sexes in South Indian population and to find whether palatoscopy is a useful tool in human identification. Materials and Methods. Four hundred outpatients from Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, were included in the study. The study group was equally divided between the sexes, which was further categorized into 100 dentulous and edentulous patients, respectively. Results. The edentulous male showed the highest mean of wavy pattern and total absence of circular pattern while the edentulous female group showed the highest mean of curved pattern and total absence of nonspecific pattern, while dentate population showed similar value as that of the overall population such as straight, wavy, and curved patterns. Conclusion. The present study concludes that there is similar rugae pattern of distribution between male and female dentate population while there is varied pattern between the sexes of edentulous population. However, the most predominant patterns were straight, wavy, and circular patterns.

Direct pollution cost assessment of cruising tourism in the Croatian Adriatic

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Hrvoje Carić

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Cruise tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism industry and one that has significant environmental, economic and social impacts on target destinations. Yet, tourism decision makers, developers and managers rarely incorporate or estimate environmental impacts in their tourism development planning. Indeed, the analysis of the resulting resource exploitation is rarely undertaken until carrying capacity is breached and attractiveness diminished. In this article an assessment is offered that determines, quantifies and financially estimates emissions and waste streams so they can be compared with the direct income generated to the local economy by cruising tourism. It is applied to the Croatian part of the Adriatic and financially evaluates environmental impacts, arguing that they are negative externalities due to inappropriate internalization and management.The purpose of the assessment is to give a “snapshot” of the situation, and also to create the groundwork for a model that will assist decision makers and stakeholders, at different levels and of different interests, to prevent and reduce the ecological, health and economic risks associated with dead-end tourism development.

Sociodemographic and medical characteristics of involuntary psychiatric inpatients--retrospective study of five-year experience with Croatian Act on Mental Health.

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Potkonjak, Jelena; Karlović, Dalibor

2008-09-01

The aim of this study was to analyze sociodemographic and medical characteristics of involuntary psychiatric inpatients treated during the five-year period of implementation of the Croatian Act on Mental Health. Data on involuntarily hospitalized patients according to the Croatian Act on Mental Health were singled out from the pool of inpatients treated at University Department of Psychiatry, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital from January 1, 1998 till December 31, 2002. Data were collected from medical records. Patients were diagnosed according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision criteria. The prevalence of involuntary hospitalization was 2%, including a comparative number of male and female patients. Most patients had secondary school, were living alone, were unmarried, widowed or divorced, and did not work at the time of hospitalization; however, most patients had some kind of health insurance. Schizophrenia was the most common diagnosis in involuntary psychiatric inpatients. In conclusion, scientific evaluation of involuntary hospitalization poses a major problem because of the many different factors that can influence the prevalence of involuntary hospitalization. Some of this factors are type of institution (psychiatric hospital or psychiatry department at a general hospital), organization of psychiatric care in the region, psychiatric morbidity and dynamics of changes in psychiatric morbidity in a specific region, public opinion about people with mental disorders, legal provisions on this very sensitive topic, etc.

Which Processes Can We Expect to See in the Croatian Energy Sector Until 2050

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Granic, G.

2010-01-01

The paper analyzes the processes that can be expected to take place in the Croatian energy sector until 2050 in the conditions of significant reductions of CO 2 and other greenhouses gases emissions. It also shows the main factors influencing energy consumption; limitations in energy sector development deriving from climate changes and environment preservation; technological development and its impact on the energy sector development; potentials of available resources and energy infrastructure for energy transport/transmission and energy import, as well as the security and quality of supply. The paper highlights significant changes in the energy sector, necessity of developing new economic policies which would be based on enhancing energy efficiency and use of low CO 2 and GHG technologies or use of those technologies which contribute to substantial reduction of the emissions.(author).

Risk factors for bruxism among Croatian navy employees.

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Alajbeg, I Z; Zuvela, A; Tarle, Z

2012-09-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between bruxism, and sociodemographic parameters, symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD), personality and war experience among Croatian navy employees. The sample included 1092 subjects, aged 20-60 years (mean age 37·06 ± 7·85). An individual's bruxism status was based on clinical oral examination and participants' report of bruxism. Subjects with bruxism index values ≥ 90th percentile were included in severe bruxism group (n = 111), and those with scores below 90th percentile were labelled as negligible bruxism group (n = 981). No differences were found in gender distribution between the two groups. The proportion of military personnel presenting with bruxism is double the proportion of administrative employees with bruxism. A total of 23·34% subjects in negligible bruxism group and 48·65% in severe bruxism group participated in the war. Subjects in severe bruxism group presented more TMD-related signs and symptoms than those in negligible bruxism group. Higher prevalence of neuroticism and psychoticism was found in severe bruxism group. According to logistic regression, the probability of severe bruxism was significantly associated with marital status [Odds ratio (OR) 6·859, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3·869-12·158 P bruxism than non-smokers. Subjects who participated in war were more represented in severe bruxism group. Further studies, including other potential risk factors, are required to clarify these relationships. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Drug use among youth and adults in a population-based survey in South Africa

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Karl Peltzer

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: Illicit drug use is a growing public health problem. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of drug use and the sociodemographic and health characteristics that influence it among young and adult South Africans. Methods: Data based on the South African national population-based survey in 2012 for 26 453 individuals (52.0% women and 48.0% men aged 15 years and older were analysed. Past 3-month drug use was assessed with the ‘Alcohol, Smoking and Substance use Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST’. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was conducted to assess the association between sociodemographic factors, health variables and any past 3-month drug use. Results: Overall, any past 3-month drug use was 4.4%, 7.9% among men and 1.3% among women. The proportion of past 3-month cannabis use was 4.0%, followed by sedatives or sleeping pills 0.4%, amphetamine-type stimulants 0.3%, cocaine 0.3%, opiates 0.3%, inhalants 0.2% and hallucinogens 0.1%. Among the nine South African provinces, any past 3-month drug use was the highest in the Western Cape (7.1%, followed by the Free State (6.3% and Northern Cape (5.2%. In adjusted, multivariable, logistic regression analysis among both men and women, younger age, being mixed race and hazardous or harmful alcohol use were associated with any past 3-month drug use. In addition, having been a victim of violent crime and sexual risk behaviour among men and having psychological distress among women were associated with any past 3-month drug use. Conclusion: An increase of any past 3-month drug use from 3.7% in 2008 to 4.4% in 2012 was observed in South Africa. Prevention and intervention activities targeting drug use, in particular in identified risk groups, need to be strengthened in South Africa.

Retrospective estimation of middle irradiation doses for population of south Ukraine from radionuclides of Chernobyl accidental release

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Grigor'jeva, L.Yi.; Grigor'jev, K.V.

2011-01-01

The results of retrospective definition of the radiation load to the population of south Ukraine the under abnormal condition Chernobyl release of radionuclide, executed from data of aerophare, spectrometry and dosimetric researches on territory Nikolaev, Odessa, Kirovograd areas and Autonomous Republic of Crimea, conducted by the Nikolaev research laboratory ''Larani'' in 1986 and in subsequent years are presented in the article.

Life expectancy estimation in small administrative areas with non-uniform population sizes: application to Australian New South Wales local government areas.

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Stephens, Alexandre S; Purdie, Stuart; Yang, Baohui; Moore, Helen

2013-12-02

To determine a practical approach for deriving life expectancy estimates in Australian New South Wales local government areas which display a large diversity in population sizes. Population-based study utilising mortality and estimated residential population data. 153 local government areas in New South Wales, Australia. Key performance measures of Chiang II, Silcocks, adjusted Chiang II and Bayesian random effects model methodologies of life expectancy estimation including agreement analysis of life expectancy estimates and comparison of estimate SEs. Chiang II and Silcocks methods produced almost identical life expectancy estimates across a large range of population sizes but calculation failures and excessively large SEs limited their use in small populations. A population of 25 000 or greater was required to estimate life expectancy with SE of 1 year or less using adjusted Chiang II (a composite of Chiang II and Silcocks methods). Data aggregation offered some remedy for extending the use of adjusted Chiang II in small populations but reduced estimate currency. A recently developed Bayesian random effects model utilising the correlation in mortality rates between genders, age groups and geographical areas markedly improved the precision of life expectancy estimates in small populations. We propose a hybrid approach for the calculation of life expectancy using the Bayesian random effects model in populations of 25 000 or lower permitting the precise derivation of life expectancy in small populations. In populations above 25 000, we propose the use of adjusted Chiang II to guard against violations of spatial correlation, to benefit from a widely accepted method that is simpler to communicate to local health authorities and where its slight inferior performance compared with the Bayesian approach is of minor practical significance.

The South Asian genome.

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John C Chambers

Full Text Available The genetic sequence variation of people from the Indian subcontinent who comprise one-quarter of the world's population, is not well described. We carried out whole genome sequencing of 168 South Asians, along with whole-exome sequencing of 147 South Asians to provide deeper characterisation of coding regions. We identify 12,962,155 autosomal sequence variants, including 2,946,861 new SNPs and 312,738 novel indels. This catalogue of SNPs and indels amongst South Asians provides the first comprehensive map of genetic variation in this major human population, and reveals evidence for selective pressures on genes involved in skin biology, metabolism, infection and immunity. Our results will accelerate the search for the genetic variants underlying susceptibility to disorders such as type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease which are highly prevalent amongst South Asians.

Field-evolved resistance to imidacloprid and ethiprole in populations of brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens collected from across South and East Asia.

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Garrood, William T; Zimmer, Christoph T; Gorman, Kevin J; Nauen, Ralf; Bass, Chris; Davies, Thomas G E

2016-01-01

We report on the status of imidacloprid and ethiprole resistance in Nilaparvata lugens Stål collected from across South and East Asia over the period 2005-2012. A resistance survey found that field populations had developed up to 220-fold resistance to imidacloprid and 223-fold resistance to ethiprole, and that many of the strains collected showed high levels of resistance to both insecticides. We also found that the cytochrome P450 CYP6ER1 was significantly overexpressed in 12 imidacloprid-resistant populations tested when compared with a laboratory susceptible strain, with fold changes ranging from ten- to 90-fold. In contrast, another cytochrome P450 CYP6AY1, also implicated in imidacloprid resistance, was underexpressed in ten of the populations and only significantly overexpressed (3.5-fold) in a single population from India compared with the same susceptible strain. Further selection of two of the imidacloprid-resistant field strains correlated with an approximate threefold increase in expression of CYP6ER1. We conclude that overexpression of CYP6ER1 is associated with field-evolved resistance to imidacloprid in brown planthopper populations in five countries in South and East Asia. © 2015 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Croatian National System of Nuclear Materials Control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biscan, R.

1998-01-01

In the process of economic and technological development of Croatia by using or introducing nuclear power or in the case of international co-operation in the field of peaceful nuclear activities, including international exchange of nuclear material, Croatia should establish and implement National System of Nuclear Materials Control. Croatian National System of accounting for and control of all nuclear material will be subjected to safeguards under requirements of Agreement and Additional Protocol between the Republic of Croatia and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The decision by NPT parties at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference to endorse the Fullscope IAEA Safeguards Standard (FSS) as a necessary precondition of nuclear supply means that states are obliged to ensure that the recipient country has a FSS agreement in place before any nuclear transfer can take place (Ref. 1). The FSS standard of nuclear supply is a central element of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) Guidelines which the NSG adopted in 1992 and should be applied to members and non-members of the NSG. The FSS standard of nuclear supply in general allows for NPT parties or countries which have undertaken the same obligations through other treaty arrangements, to receive favourable treatment in nuclear supply arrangements. However, the Iraqi experience demonstrate that trade in nuclear and dual-use items, if not properly monitored, can contribute to a nuclear weapons program in countries acting contrary to their non-proliferation obligation. Multilateral nuclear export control mechanisms, including the FSS supply standard, provide the basis for co-ordination and standardisation of export control measures. (author)

The effectiveness of structured exercise in the south Asian population with type 2 diabetes: a systematic review.

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Albalawi, Hani; Coulter, Elaine; Ghouri, Nazim; Paul, Lorna

2017-11-01

The impact of exercise interventions on south Asians with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), who have a higher T2DM incidence rate compared to other ethnic groups, is inconclusive. This study aimed to systematically review the effect of exercise interventions in south Asians with T2DM. Five electronic databases were searched up to April 2017 for controlled trials investigating the impact of exercise interventions on south Asian adults with T2DM. The PEDro scale was used to assess the quality of the included studies. Eighteen trials examining the effect of aerobic, resistance, balance or combined exercise programs met the eligibility criteria. All types of exercise were associated with improvements in glycemic control, blood pressure, waist circumference, blood lipids, muscle strength, functional mobility, quality of life or neuropathy progression. The majority of included studies were of poor methodological quality. Few studies compared different types or dose of exercise. In conclusion, this review supports the benefits of exercise for south Asians with T2DM, although it was not possible to identify the most effective exercise prescription. Further studies of good methodological quality are required to determine the most effective dosage and type of exercise to manage T2DM in this population.

Human leukocyte antigen class I (A, B and C) allele and haplotype variation in a South African Mixed ancestry population.

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Loubser, Shayne; Paximadis, Maria; Tiemessen, Caroline T

South Africa has a large (∼53million), ethnically diverse population (black African, Caucasian, Indian/Asian and Mixed ancestry) and a high disease burden (particularly HIV-1 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis). The Mixed ancestry population constitutes ∼9% of the total population and was established ∼365years ago in the Western Cape region through interracial mixing of black Africans, Europeans and Asians. Admixed populations present unique opportunities to identify genetic factors involved in disease susceptibility. Since HLA genes are important mediators of host immunity, we investigated HLA-A, -B and -C allele and haplotype diversity in 50 healthy, unrelated individuals recruited from the Mixed ancestry population. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The phenotype of polycythemia due to Croatian homozygous VHL (571C>G:H191D) mutation is different from that of Chuvash polycythemia (VHL 598C>T:R200W).

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Tomasic, Nikica Ljubas; Piterkova, Lucie; Huff, Chad; Bilic, Ernest; Yoon, Donghoon; Miasnikova, Galina Y; Sergueeva, Adelina I; Niu, Xiaomei; Nekhai, Sergei; Gordeuk, Victor; Prchal, Josef T

2013-04-01

Mutations of VHL (a negative regulator of hypoxia-inducible factors) have position-dependent distinct cancer phenotypes. Only two known inherited homozygous VHL mutations exist and they cause polycythemia: Chuvash R200W and Croatian H191D. We report a second polycythemic Croatian H191D homozygote distantly related to the first propositus. Three generations of both families were genotyped for analysis of shared ancestry. Biochemical and molecular tests were performed to better define their phenotypes, with an emphasis on a comparison with Chuvash polycythemia. The VHL H191D mutation did not segregate in the family defined by the known common ancestors of the two subjects, suggesting a high prevalence in Croatians, but haplotype analysis indicated an undocumented common ancestor ∼six generations ago as the founder of this mutation. We show that erythropoietin levels in homozygous VHL H191D individuals are higher than in VHL R200W patients of similar ages, and their native erythroid progenitors, unlike Chuvash R200W, are not hypersensitive to erythropoietin. This observation contrasts with a report suggesting that polycythemia in VHL R200W and H191D homozygotes is due to the loss of JAK2 regulation from VHL R200W and H191D binding to SOCS1. In conclusion, our studies further define the hematologic phenotype of VHL H191D and provide additional evidence for phenotypic heterogeneity associated with the positional effects of VHL mutations.

Cultural inter-population differences do not reflect biological distances: an example of interdisciplinary analysis of populations from Eastern Adriatic coast.

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Bašić, Željana; Fox, Ayano R; Anterić, Ivana; Jerković, Ivan; Polašek, Ozren; Anđelinović, Šimun; Holland, Mitchell M; Primorac, Dragan

2015-06-01

To compare the population group from the Šopot graveyard with population groups from traditional Croatian medieval graveyards by using anthropological, craniometrics, and mitochondrial (mtDNA) analysis and to examine if the cultural differences between population groups reflect biological differences. We determined sex, age at death, pathological, and traumatic changes of skeletal remains from the Šopot graveyard and compared them with a cumulative medieval sample from the same region. We also performed principal component analysis to compare skeletal remains from Šopot with those from Ostrovica and other Central European samples according to 8 cranial measurements. Finally, we compared 46 skeletons from Šopot with medieval (Ostrovica) and contemporary populations using mDNA haplogroup profiling. The remains from Šopot were similar to the cumulative sample in lifestyle and quality of life markers. Principal component analysis showed that they were closely related to Eastern Adriatic coast sites (including Ostrovica and Šopot) in terms of cranial morphology, indicating similar biological makeup. According to mDNA testing, Šopot population showed no significant differences in the haplogroup prevalence from either medieval or contemporary populations. This study shows that the Šopot population does not significantly differ from other medieval populations from this area. Besides similar quality of life markers, these populations also had similar biological markers. Substantial archeological differences can therefore be attributed to apparent cultural influences, which in this case do not reflect biological differences.

A Slovenian version of the "clinical learning environment, supervision and nurse teacher scale (Cles+T)" and its comparison with the Croatian version.

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Žvanut, Boštjan; Lovrić, Robert; Kolnik, Tamara Štemberger; Šavle, Majda; Pucer, Patrik

2018-02-26

Nursing clinical learning environments are particularly important for the achievement of good practice in clinical training of student nurses, and thus, for the nursing competence development. Hence, it is important to have an instrument consisting of reliable and valid criteria for assessing the clinical learning environment, applicable in different contexts, and translated in the respondents mother tongue. The goal of the present research was to test the reliability and validity of the Slovenian version of the "Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher evaluation scale", and to compare it with the Croatian version. The data was collected between 10 March and 10 June 2015 at four Slovenian institutions, where nursing BSc study programmes are performed. The final sample consisted of 232 students (response rate 68.8%): 81.9% were females and 18.1% males, average age was 23. The translated instrument in Slovenian language resulted as reliable and valid, it reflects the expected five factors of the original version despite some minor problems in the factor structure and in test-retest. The most important difference between the Slovenian and Croatian version is in the factor structure regarding the implementation of roles in clinical learning environment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differences in attitudes towards medication between population groups in the Durban Metropolitan Area of South Africa.

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Suleman, Fatima; Ally, Shabnam; Bayat, Samirah; Essack, Razia; Moodley, Renalda; Mtembu, Thobekile; Ramalingham, Emily

2009-08-01

Personal factors, especially attitude, have been implicated in the utilization of health care services, and in access to medical treatment. There is little information on the attitudes of the general public in South Africa towards medications and whether attitudes differ across population groups or among the different users of the health care system. This study aimed to determine the general attitude of a local population to medications, self-care orientation and health professional contact, and whether differences existed between age groups, gender and race groups. METHODS We carried out a randomized, cross-sectional quantitative study via telephonic questionnaire survey (adapted from a previous study) of a sample of 1132 telephone numbers. The setting was the Durban Metropolitan Area, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. KEY FINDINGS A total of 500 (44.2%) people responded. The majority had a positive attitude towards medication. An increase in age resulted in increased medication use. Females were more likely than males to use medication and seek professional health care (P = 0.0406). Most of the respondents (86.0%) were self-care-orientated and displayed moderate medication knowledge (46.2%). Some 295 (59.0%) of the 500 respondents had visited a pharmacy within the last 6 months. Conclusions Health care professionals can adopt an informed approach to address the needs of the population with regard to medication, by targeting groups more likely to use medication (females and the older age group). In addition, gaps in medication knowledge were identified which could be used for health-promotion interventions by health care workers.

Diversity of palatal rugae patterns and their reliability in sex discrimination in a South Indian population

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Sai Madhavi Nallamilli

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction and Aims: Array of palatal rugae in the realm of forensic odontology has been constantly explored owing to their individual uniqueness and resistance to postmortem procedures, while their scope in sex determination and racial profiling remains understated. In this context, the present study aimed to record the diversity of palatal rugae patterns in a South Indian population. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among people who reported to the outpatient department of a dental institution. Sample comprised a total of 200 subjects divided into two groups of 100 each, based upon gender. Impressions of anterior maxilla were made of all the study subjects and casts obtained subsequently. Outline of palatal rugae pattern was traced on these models and the data computed. Z test and unpaired t-test were used for statistical analysis and the probability value calculated. In addition, logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the accuracy of sex allocation. Results: The shape of rugae exhibited highly significant sex difference in the curved type, which was found to be higher in males, and in the wavy type which was higher in females, enabling sex differentiation using palatal rugae patterns. Logistic regression analysis predicted high power of sex allocation for males rather than females in the study population. Conclusion: This study highlighted the uniqueness and greater sex discrimination potential of curved shape of palatal rugae in categorizing males of South Indian population, substantiating their use in the identification of deceased, by relating the antemortem and postmortem dental records.